Faith, Hope, and Love
by KajiyaSatoshi
Summary: On the night of Naruto's birth, Obito doesn't even get close to touching the Kyuubi, Orochimaru makes a mistake and begs for forgiveness, and the ninja world has to face an enemy they had never anticipated. (Inspired by several different sources but not a crossover)
1. Prologue

Faith, Hope, and Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it would have been written very differently if I did.

Prologue

October 10th, Yondaime 3—Hidden Cave Outside of Konoha

"Relax Kushina, it will be over soon" stated the blonde, green eyed, and very large busted woman. This woman was Tsunade Senju, one of the Sannin. She was here to help with the birth of her teammate's pupil's child. As Konoha's premier medic and the child's official godmother, no other person was so trusted with ensuring the birth went smoothly.

"That is fucking easy for you to say, you're not the one giving birth!" yelled a red haired, green eyed, woman lying on the floor. She was Kushina Uzumaki, last of her clan, wife to the Yondaime Hokage, and Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Normally there would be nothing particularly concerning about her child's birth, but this birth was special. Not only would her seal on the Kyuubi weaken while giving birth, but also after much debate it had been decided that the Kyuubi should be transferred to her soon to be born son. Her husband had labored many long nights devising a previously inconceivable seal that would safely transport the Kyuubi into their son without killing Kushina. This would be the first time a Jinchuuriki would survive the extraction of their beast thus giving the new Jinchuuriki a chance to learn directly from their predecessor on how to control the beast within them.

As Kushina lay there screaming in pain from the contractions of birth giving, her husband Minato Namikaze had just finished writing the last symbol for the sealing to take place. Minato was the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure and potentially the strongest Hokage since Hashirama Senju, the founder of Konohagakure itself. His hair was a spikey blonde and his eyes as blue as the sky on a clear day. He was famous for his strong demeanor in the face of all challenges, but even the greatest of men become weak in the prospect of their child being born. Unlike many fathers however, Minato knew that this sealing had to proceed without a hitch, so he had enlisted the help of a few interested parties. To a man with long, spikey white hair and dark eyes he gave the command "Jiraiya, the seal is finished, send out the toad and block off the entrance."

Jiraiya was known far and wide as the Toad Hermit as well as being a self-proclaimed "super pervert" leading to many not respecting him. Despite these traits however, Jiraiya was arguably the strongest of the Sannin overall in terms of skill. He was the teacher of Minato and godfather to the soon to be born child. In time he had come to see Minato as his own son and thus had no qualms putting up the strongest of defenses in the name protecting his soon to be born godson. Upon hearing Minato's words, he spoke to the waiting messenger toad "It's ready, go and tell Sarutobi-sensei to be on full alert, the time is close." As the toad hopped away, Jiraiya performed the hand signs for the **Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind** jutsu. The cave quickly morphed into the intestines of the fire-breathing toad that Jiraiya and Minato had signed a contract with. While the front of the cave's entrance was left open, the back was sealed off with Jiraiya standing guard. Anyone who entered while Jiraiya was using the technique would become permanently trapped and doomed to a slow, agonizing digestion. This is the world of ninja however, and one cannot rely on just one failsafe to protect such a delicate event. This is why Jiraiya and Minato had enlisted the help of yet another individual.

At the entrance to the cave stood an old man wearing the plated armor worn by ninja in the first and second shinobi world wars. In his hand was a gigantic staff that was in reality the weapon form of Enma: The Monkey King. The man holding it was none other than the Kami of Shinobi, former Third Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen had been around since the founding of Konoha and had the longest reign of any Hokage to date. He had fought more battles and seen more in his life than most other ninja combined. Even in his old age, Sarutobi was still one of the strongest and most dangerous ninja alive. His former student and successor had requested that he aid in the protection of Minato's child during its birth and the kind-hearted man was only happy to oblige.

The messenger toad reached Hiruzen and told him all was prepared. Hiruzen signaled for the ANBU in the surrounding area to move into formation and activate the **Barrier Gate: Five Seals Technique**. When the seals went up, a bolder locked itself into place covering the only entrance/exit into the cave. Unless an individual managed to destroy all five seals simultaneously, the barrier was impossible to breach and with Hiruzen himself guarding one of the seals, the chances the barrier would be breached were virtually nil.

"Sarutobi-sama, all is in place, all members are in position" spoke an ANBU wearing a dog mask.

"Good, return to post A-3 and await signal for warning or completion, be on full alert" responded Hiruzen. With the final confirmation in place, Hiruzen began his vigil to protect the birth of the child who would likely become yet another Hokage in the future.

* * *

A man dressed in a black cloak with an orange swirl mask stood on a tree branch looking at the scene before him. The tomoe of his red Sharingan eye were spinning rapidly as he was attempting to figure out why his Kamui wasn't letting him transport through the barrier. When he discovered that it was the very same barrier technique he planned to use in bases for when he finished building Akatsuki, he made four shadow clones to locate the other four seals, a task that was made simple with his Sharingan revealing the connecting points. Normally such barriers weren't a problem, but because this barrier's anchors actually existed in several distant spaces simultaneously, his Kamui couldn't penetrate it; that was the exact reason why he had chosen the technique to be used in the first place. When his clones were in position, he activated Kamui and teleported in front of the Kami of Shinobi, a man he once held in high regard that was now nothing more than an obstacle in his path. "Oh my, it seems that you've blocked my path, would you mind stepping aside, I need to remove that seal," the cloaked man said.

"Until the boy is born, no one gets in or out of this cave" Hiruzen state absolutely as he moved into a battle position, already channeling chakra to strike.

"Really now it doesn't have to be that difficult" whined the cloaked man. He then ran forward activating his Kamui to phase through the old ninja and pull off the tag when he felt his clones suddenly disappear. He immediately jumped out of the former Hokage's range as the memories came flooding back to him of what became of his clones.

* * *

The first clone saw a rock with a seal on it, there was nothing guarding it but being cautious it moved quickly to grab the seal. Suddenly it heard a loud scream "YOSH!" And a foot came from seemingly nowhere kicking it into the air, before it could even think it had dispelled from the impact.

* * *

The second clone could see the rock that had its target, but on top of it sat a man with his hair tied up in a way that resembled a pineapple. As the clone suddenly realized it couldn't move, the figure muttered something about "troublesome" and the clone felt pressure, then it felt no more.

* * *

The third clone looked around but could not see a rock with a seal tag on it anywhere, its Sharingan said the seal was in the middle of the clearing, but there was no rock to be seen. It couldn't be genjutsu or his Sharingan would have detected it. A breeze blew through and the clone saw the grass shift unnaturally. _A camouflage blanket eh? I guess old tricks are the best…_before the clone could even finish the thought, a sword had jabbed through its chest dispelling it, leaving behind an ANBU in a cat mask.

* * *

The last clone saw the seal, and in front of it was an ANBU in a dog mask, as the clone prepared to move forward it heard the sound of chirping from behind. It quickly jumped out of the way dodging the attack that destroyed the branch it had been standing on. _That technique, it must by my old teammate Kakashi ever faithfully serving Konoha._ Watching the smoke clear to find a straight run to the tag, the clone suddenly heard a shout of **"One Thousand Years of Pain!"** The clone then disappeared in shock.

* * *

The cloaked man was frustrated, but more than frustrated he was embarrassed. _To be defeated by THAT technique of all things._ The man didn't have long to wallow in self-disgust however as the Kami of Shinobi was upon him in mere seconds creating a large crater in the ground with the end of his staff. Unnerved that he was being countered so easily, the cloaked man charged at Hiruzen once more, utilizing Kamui to make himself invulnerable to attack.

As the man charged, Hiruzen quickly formed hand seals and fired off a **Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet**. His eyes widened in shock as the man simple ran through the technique without a scratch on him. As the man moved in to strike Hiruzen smirked and shouted **"Great Clone Explosion!"** The masked man barely managed to escape the explosion's damage but the blow made him land directly in front of the seal. What surprised both men was to see the rock lift on its own.

The masked man was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and rocketed forward trying to use this opportunity. Hiruzen was momentarily in shock, thinking he had slipped in his age…when the masked man suddenly flew out of the cave at an alarming speed, crashing off in the distance.

Slowly walking out of the cave with a bleeding hand was Tsunade. Shortly behind her was Jiraiya whistling. "Now just how hard did you hit him Tsunade?"

"Hard enough to break my hand" she irately replied. Both Jiraiya and Hiruzen flinched at the thought of being punched THAT hard by Tsunade. Neither was worried for her broken hand, she was the best medic in Konoha, if she couldn't fix a broken hand, then Konoha was surely doomed.

Hiruzen then came to his senses and asked Tsunade "so the boy has been born and the Kyuubi transferred?"

Tsunade's features softened at that moment and she smiled saying "yes, his eyes are just like his father's and he's now sleeping, you can see him, but if you wake him, I'll punch you all the way to Iwa."

Hiruzen chuckled at the thought, but didn't doubt her words as he walked into the cave. Seeing Minato embracing Kushina with a bundle in her arms, Hiruzen slowly moved forward and smiled at the sleeping face. "What's his name?"

Kushina looked up with the glowing face of a mother and replied "We named him after one of Jiraiya's books, his name is Naruto, Naruto Namikaze."

Hiruzen could only smile as he looked down on Naruto's soft newborn features, if you didn't already know it, you could never guess the boy housed the strongest of all Bijuu. "That is a wonderful name, may I hold him?" Kushina handed the bundle over to Hiruzen and he whispered softly to the boy with a tuft of blonde hair "welcome Naruto Namikaze, to Konohagakure, may the Will of Fire burn brightly in you from this day on."

* * *

The masked man woke up in a cave that he had come to know very well; the only problem was that he didn't recall using Kamui to transport himself. As he stood up he heard a voice answer his very thoughts "I had Zetsu bring you here once you landed from that attack, so you failed to capture the Kyuubi it seems, Obito."

The masked man now known as Obito was immediately on his knees in respect to the one that had brought him back from the dead. "I tried my hardest great father, but they were far better prepared than I had anticipated and caught me by surprise. The child was born far more quickly than I had imagined. In addition two of the Sannin as well as the Third, Fourth and several ANBU were guarding him, it simply couldn't be done."

Looking up, Obito saw the face of what was once Madara Uchiha, the strongest ninja to ever come from the Uchiha clan, his ancestor. Madara had brought Obito back from death to serve his purposes and in exchange had made Obito more powerful than nearly any shinobi.

Madara looked down upon Obito with the Rinnegan eyes he had developed shortly before his "death" with disdain. "Well, I suppose it couldn't be helped" Madara confirmed, "only having one Sharingan eye must have surely hampered you, we need to fix that now if our plans are to move forward." With that, Madara tore out one of his own eyes only for a new one to grow in its place. "Here, take this to replace your lost eye."

Obito was shocked at Madara's generosity, but had learned to not question the man's choices. He took off his mask and inserted the eye; once the pain faded and his vision adjusted he was amazed at the clarity and power the Rinnegan gave him. If he were to do everything over with this eye, he would surely be victorious.

Madara then told him "now go back to Kiri and monitor your puppet, I will summon you when I decide what to do next."

Obito quickly obeyed transporting himself back to the world of the living in his cave near Kirigakure where he had the Mizukage under his Genjutsu. As he prepared to exit the cave however he felt his body grow stiff, he then heard Madara's voice in his head say to him _"do you really think I take failure so lightly? I can't afford to deal with children who can't follow orders."_

He then lost control of his body and could only watch as he used the **Outer Path:** **Samsara of Heavenly Life** technique. His body began to shift and transform and he felt himself slipping away from his body.

"No…" he began to feel cold.

"This can't be" everything went dark to the eyes that were no longer his.

"No…Kakashi…Rin…" and Obito Uchiha was no more; in his place now stood the revived and very much alive Madara Uchiha, who was now ready to move forward with his plans, without any more setbacks.

"Now we will see just how much this world has changed, first, to Kiri" and he was gone.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Hello everyone,**

KajiyaSatoshi here, this is my first time writing a fanfiction, but after reading nearly every 100k+ story on this site for Naruto I figured I'd like to give it a shot myself. I welcome all forms of review both critique and complement, but please, if you aren't going to say something that is productive to either my motivation or the improvement of the story, please refrain from commenting.

This is my first time writing a story so I'm a little new in certain fields but I felt like giving this a shot, if all goes well and my motivation stays high, I hope for this to be a very long, well written story. It is important to note three things when reading my story:

1. This is a fanfiction, while I will take several ideas, abilities, characters, and locations from the canon storyline, my world will differ in certain aspects, obviously some have already occurred. This is the nature of fanfiction, if you wanted a copy of the canon storyline, go read the manga or one of the many stories that do so.

2. Chakra, it's use and method of being used won't necessarily work the same way as in canon. The same goes for some characters and matchups. These will act as I think would fit their character for the situation they are in, this story will highly shift the Naruto world from the bottom up and characters will have to adjust. Characters are only OOC if you relate them to the original canon character. Again this is fanfiction and I will write the characters the way I think makes sense.

3. Finally a word on plotline and pairings. I have a plan for the plotline, BUT it might change with time if it seems to work better. For pairings I have NONE planned, but that doesn't mean they won't happen, this is meant to be an adventure story, not a romance one. Telling me you'd like to see Naru/x will not have any affect on who Naruto, or anyone else MIGHT be paired with, if it becomes useful to the plot at all.

All of that being said I hope that you will all enjoy this story. Anytime you have questions feel free to PM me and if relevant enough I will post responses at the end of chapters to clarify points. I may not answer some questions if it will give away plot points however.

Thanks! ^^


	2. The Konoha Initiative

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 1: The Konoha Initiative

Six Years Later: Konohagakure

The sun rose on Konohagakure, greatest of the five major ninja villages. The Hokage Mountain shone brightly displaying the faces of the four men who had spent their lives building and defending Konoha from all invaders. The birds were chirping happily and the people were going about their morning routine to prepare for the day ahead, yes all was good in Konoha until…

"NARUTO NAMIKAZE, GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" The ground shook with the scream of Kushina Uzumaki, wife to the Hokage. Despite being a non-active shinobi now for six years, she was still known as one of the most fearsome kunoichi to ever come from the Hidden Leaf. Many shinobi and civilian feared her wrath, but none knew the fear her son Naruto was currently feeling.

Naruto peeked around the door of his room to see his mother standing at the bottom of the hallway's stairs. Her face was in a grimace that promised he would feel pain for whatever it was he did. Like any child wishing to avoid pain, he complied with his mother's request. As insurance, he turned on the legendary puppy dog eyes and pouted his lips and asked, "Yes mommy?"

Naruto's insurance paid off when his mother saw his face and her heart melted. All parents dreaded that look; it made it impossible to stay mad for long. Nevertheless, Kushina, with the icy sweet tone of all mothers asked her son "Naruto, would you like to tell me why your muddy footprints are on the ceiling all the way from the kitchen to the bathroom?" She had told him one hundred times to not track mud in the house already, how many times would it take?

For his part, Naruto answered in the blunt manner that all children understood the world: "well momma, you said to not get the floor dirty and my feet were all muddy, so I walked on the ceiling to clean them off in the bathroom."

Kushina wanted to slam her head against the wall, she couldn't rightfully be angry with Naruto because she _had_ said the floor specifically. She took the high road however and decided to be constructive in reprimanding her child using the one thing that always held his interest: becoming a ninja. "Naruto, what do you want to become?"

"A ninja!" he replied enthusiastically.

"And what are ninja also called?" she inquired.

"Shinobi!" he replied.

"Good, now tell me what does shinobi mean?" the trap was set.

"A shinobi is defined as one who sneaks in unseen" he replied in a textbook manner. Upon finishing his words however his eyes bulged with realization, Kushina had caught him squarely in her trap.

"So tell me, what did you do wrong?" she sweetly asked him, forcing him to explain his now realized wrongdoing.

"I…tracked mud on the ceiling and someone could see my footprints which makes me a bad shinobi." Naruto was crestfallen; being a shinobi meant everything to him, failing in any aspect of it was the same as a sin to the energetic young boy.

"Good, I'm glad you understand now Naruto. In the future clean your feet before coming inside, OK?"

"Yes momma" he replied.

Seeing that her lesson hit home, she decided to restore her son's usual energetic visage. "Alright, now go back to your room and get dressed, don't forget today is very special, you start your training at the academy today!"

With that sentence Naruto's eyes went wide as saucers and he dashed off to his room without a single word. Kushina looked up at the trail on the ceiling and sighed remembering just how much unforeseen trouble her husband had caused for her and all other parents across Konoha.

* * *

_Flashback: 2 weeks after Naruto's birth_

_ Minato Namikaze stood before the Ninja Council of Konoha. They were seated in front of him in three tiers. The first and smallest tier consisted of the four noble clans of Konoha: the Uchiha, Hyuuga, Aburame, and Akimichi clans. The second tier were highly influential clans that joined Konoha shortly after its formation or became important to Konoha's survival. This tier contained the Inuzuka, Yamanaka, Nara, Sarutobi, Kurama, Hatake, and the newest addition Namikaze clans. The final tier consisted of minor and clan-less shinobi representatives for the general ninja populace. There were three general ninja representatives for each sector of Konoha, and then one representative each for the Genin, Chuunin, Jounin, and ANBU. The council consisted of a total of twenty-one members, with the Hokage and his two advisors being the final members. The actual vote count for the council however was twenty-five with the four noble clans receiving two votes each as per the Konoha charter. The Hokage however had the power of executive decision if he chose to enforce it that could only be overturned by a 4/5__ths__ or greater vote against his decision, such was the trust and power put in the hands of the Hokage._

_ This council had been called to reconcile what Minato believed needed to be done to ensure the strength of Konoha for generations to come. He knew that some of the clans would be against the control it would place upon them as well as the separate civilian council that would have issue with their children being forced into training at such a young age. Minato however, truly believed that these were necessary precautions that would ultimately keep Konoha on top and thus needed the consensus of the ninja council before calling a grand council to order._

_ Behind Minato sat his two advisors, the elders of Konoha: Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third Hokage, and Shimura Danzo operator of Konoha's ROOT program. Many had disagreed with his positioning Danzo into such a high position of power, but Minato felt that Danzo did truly have Konoha's best interest at heart and that sometimes a stronger hand than what Hiruzen would offer was necessary achieve what was best for Konoha. This didn't mean that Minato fully trusted Danzo however, it simply meant he believed in the old saying "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Personally, he found it ironically entertaining that the so called 'Shinobi no Kami' and the 'Shinobi no Yami' operated as his advisors, creating a balance that many did not enjoy seeing, but he knew to be necessary to weigh all options accurately. Between these two advisors, who both knew of his plan, Minato knew that Danzo supported it for increasing Konoha's strength, but wished there was more to the plan. Hiruzen however thought it was too strong to ask young children to train so roughly at a young age and was primarily against the plan. Being unknowing of just how the clans would vote in this decision, Minato's advisors votes would play a pivotal role in this meeting._

_ "Thank you everyone for coming, in the light of the attack upon my wife during childbirth and the nature of the attack itself we are meeting today to discuss the future of Konoha's shinobi population. It is the belief of many others and myself that this attack is only a foreshadowing of events to come and so a great change must be made to protect Konoha from the coming storm. This plan has been named the "Konoha Initiative" and through it, it is my hope that Konoha will become stronger than ever before. Because of the gravity of what the Konoha Initiative entails, I am revoking the executive right of the Hokage to show you how much I value your input before this plan is brought to the grand council. I need all of your trust and help to ensure this plan goes through." The attack on Kushina and Naruto worried Minato greatly. The two weeks after he had spent nearly sleepless with Hiruzen and Danzo working on the greatest training shift in the history of the shinobi world. It was a gamble for Minato to forfeit his executive right, but one that just might win him the votes necessary to pass the initiative._

_ As per the Konoha charter, the clan with first rights to speak was the Uchiha clan. Representing them was a man with black hair and black eyes with strong frown lines, the head of the Uchiha clan and head of the Military Police: Fugaku Uchiha. "What a strong show of faith Hokage-sama, if you would be so kind, could you please explain this initiative to us before we take any consideration as to how we will vote?" The kindness of his opening statement was an obvious formality, but niceties had to be observed regardless._

_ "Of course Uchiha-dono" replied Minato "there are three major pillars to the Konoha Initiative with multiple addendums listed below each one, please allow me to explain the major points in full before questions are made." With the sign of approval from Fugaku, Minato began:_

_ "First, it is resolved that the basic requirements for becoming a ninja shall be increased. Upon joining the academy a shinobi hopeful must be able to perform the tree walking exercise for at least one minute, additionally they must be able to perform fifty push-ups, sit-ups, and run for thirty minutes without stopping. Upon graduation, a student must be able to perform the water walking technique for at least one minute, perform one hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and run for half a day without stopping. In addition they must have mastered basic survival, tracking, and navigational skills. Finally they must be able to perform the substitution jutsu, the henge jutsu, and a clone jutsu other than the basic clone genjutsu. If any of these fields are not met adequately then a student must make up for them remarkably in other fields. The final decision will be made based upon the vote of the academy instructor, the Hokage, and his advisors. The secondary exam shall still be given by the chosen Jounin instructor to determine their teamwork skills._

_ Second, the ANBU program will be turned into a smaller group that reports only to the Hokage and acts on his orders alone. The rest of ANBU's original duties will be turned over to the ROOT program to provide increased strength to Konoha's black ops. ROOT will be made an entirely voluntary program with specific guidelines of training changed in accordance of agreement by the Hokage and his advisors._

_ Third, in accordance with the first resolution the academy's curriculum shall be rewritten with a higher focus on specific ninja related skills. The minimum entry age shall be 6 and the graduation age will be 12 regardless of skill, no more early graduations shall be permitted. Any child not qualified to become a shinobi by this time will be removed from the program and put into a new civilian police force to supplement the Military Police Corps, the Uchiha clan will have direct control of this new force. Upon the third year of the academy, students shall begin taking D-rank missions that will now be reserved solely for academy student training. Upon their fifth year in the academy students will be removed from standard classroom format and broken up into four main divisions focusing on their strengths. These four sections will be primarily focused upon taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and special divisions. _

_ That is the Konoha Initiative as planned, changes or additions can be made accordingly, thank you for your time. I assure you that if this plan is accepted then Konoha's ninja will become the best in the world without compare and you can be certain your successors will surpass you and make your individual clans stronger than ever, that is all, I will now take questions."_

_ "Troublesome" muttered Shikaku Nara head of the Nara clan. His single word echoed the emotions of the entire council. In addition to what the Hokage had just spoken, there were over a hundred pages worth of addendums. This Konoha Initiative would indeed change the way things were done in Konoha, and many of the clans were visibly not happy with it._

_ The first to speak up was the head of the Hyuuga clan Hiashi Hyuuga. "Lord Hokage, if I may, while the proposed plan would allow for a much stronger force, the Hyuuga have reservations based upon the regulation this would place upon clans within Konoha. What exactly does this mean for those clans that focus on certain fields?"_

_ The question was not unexpected, Minato knew that the clans never enjoyed being regulated, and fortunately he had planned for this. "Your concerns are quite valid Hyuuga-dono, but I assure you there is nothing to overly worry about. If you take notice to the first pillar you will see that any ninja hopeful who excels greatly in certain fields will be able to make up for other fields that they lack in. In pillar three you will also see an entire year focused upon specialization, the section marked "special" will specifically be focused upon either students with remarkable skills not fitting into the basic three fields—such as clan techniques, or those with kekkei genkai. Rest assured the only regulations will be to ensure a basic knowledge of all fields that all ninja will benefit from knowing. Are there more questions?"_

_ Indeed there were, and the questioning continued for ten more hours until all parties were satisfied. In the end, the council voted unanimously to pass the initiative. A week later the grand council vote was quickly decided in favor of the initiative; the civilian council enjoyed the prospect of a civilian police force that would not bow to the laws related to ninja alone. Within the month the Konoha Initiative began its implementation. When the first batch of academy graduates taught under the new program graduated, the results were so spectacular that the grand council voted unanimously to adopt the initiative as a new section of Konoha's charter._

_End Flashback_

* * *

It was true, the Konoha Initiative had achieved all that Minato had hoped it would and more, regrettably this led to most parents rushing their child's training, and a six year old on a sugar rush that could run on the ceiling was enough to drive any parent insane. Ultimately though Konoha was safer, and many parents slept far better at night knowing that compared to before, Konoha was now nearly impenetrable, a true safe haven for all under its protection.

Today was the beginning of a new group of students at the academy, and this group promised to be one of the most powerful to ever come from Konoha. Nearly every major clan was represented in this group and there was no lack of talent to be seen. Kushina, like all mothers was worried about how her son would do on his first day, but not because he might not match up to his peers, instead because he might outshine them too much. Being the son of the fourth Hokage, Naruto had very large shoes to fill, but even at his young age he refused to try and adopt either his mother or his father's style, he wanted to become his own ninja—a fact that made both Kushina and Minato proud, if a little crestfallen.

The devotion Naruto had put into his training, plus natural skill had made him excel farther than either of his parents had thought possible. At this moment he already had most of the basic skills necessary to graduate, all he lacked was the age. It was also interesting to see him advance so far without the aid of the Kyuubi. The new seal Minato had designed made Naruto quite literally the jailer of the Kyuubi; it had no capability to interact or contact Naruto in any way without his direct permission. This seal could also be removed and transferred to another person, effectively making it so that Naruto was not even a Jinchuuriki in the literal sense. Minato had been right about one thing, the ninja world was destined to change, it had already began, and Kushina was sure that her son would be one of the greatest trailblazers in this new world.

* * *

The Ruins of Sky Country

In an office room, long abandoned, a man with long black hair and snake-like yellow eyes was meticulously reading old research notes. This man was Orochimaru, the exiled Sannin. Once he was one of Konoha's greatest assets, now he was one of their greatest enemies. Several years prior he had been approached by a man in an orange mask asking him to join an organization known as Akatsuki. Initially Orochimaru had been apathetic at best to join the group, but he had been promised an endless supply of subjects and access to research material. As a scientist at heart, Orochimaru could not deny the opportunity. The increase in resources had allowed him to complete his immortality jutsu faster than expected and he had become stronger than ever before.

Now he was finishing researching what was rumored as the "zero-tailed beast", the Reibi. The actual beast had long disappeared with the remnants of the hidden sky village, but many notes on it still remained in the forgotten ruins. Through his studies, Orochimaru had come to discover that it was not truly a "tailed beast" like the other nine, instead a manifestation of all negative feelings and emotions turned into an unbeatable weapon, if it could be harnessed properly.

Orochimaru had originally considered the idea of possibly using the Sharingan to control the Reibi, but it seemed that little known aspect of the Sharingan's powers did not apply to the Reibi either—a gift and a curse. In addition, it seemed likely the fabled mokuton he had experimented on in Konoha would not have any effect either. The Reibi was simply too unstable to control in such a manner.

Orochimaru theorized that if the beast could be contained within a stable vessel and controlled absolutely, the one that wielded its power would be nigh invincible. But, as with all great power, there was a cost. In order to control such a creature, one would need to be virtually as strong as the fabled Sage of Six Paths himself, permanently tying oneself to the Reibi; he had no desire to become dependent on another being for power. Orochimaru made others depend upon him, not the other way around.

Because of this, Orochimaru concluded this research as fruitless and chose to discard of it. As he rose, he set the room on fire and left, seeking out his next research topic: the nearly extinct Kamizuru clan, ancient enemies of Konoha's Aburame clan. Despite being a snake user, Orochimaru had always been fascinated by the swarm mentality of insects and just how effective it proved to be, further "proper" research could only prove to be valuable to increase his power in the future.

What Orochimaru did not bother paying attention to amidst his inner monologue, was a black hand emerging from the ground to grab the burning journal of Orochimaru's research. The hand belonged to Zetsu, Madara's servant and fellow member of Akatsuki. Madara knew the value of the topics Orochimaru researched, and also knew that the snake had a tendency to destroy what he saw as fruitless. Madara however, had access to power beyond any other ninja, and could find fruit where others could not; as a result he commanded Zetsu to follow Orochimaru and pick up any of his discarded research to discover what he might be able to implement in the future. The Reibi was just one of hundreds of topics that Madara had recovered from Orochimaru, and already he had a plan forming in his mind of how to use it, but first, he needed to find it.

* * *

Author's Note

Well here you go, the first true chapter of Faith, Hope, and Love. The Konoha Initiative is inspired by my belief that Minato would be a pragmatist on top of being caring for his family and would have made many changes to Konoha had he survived in canon. There are several tiny details about the Konoha Initiative that I didn't write specifically, if you have questions feel free to PM them to me and if I think they're big enough problems, I will write the answers in later chapters.

There was a lot of foreshadowing both in the prologue and in this chapter in multiple sections, take your guesses and we'll see if you're right!

—KajiyaSatoshi


	3. The Things Unseen

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 2: The Things Unseen

* * *

Konohagakure—August, Yondaime 9

"Now, remember what we talked about Naruto, no showing off or showing other people up. You want to make friends not enemies," stated Kushina.

Exasperated Naruto replied, "I know mom, you've told me this three times a day for the past month." Naruto was ready to go, but his mother simply wouldn't let him go without a final briefing of proper conduct, that wasn't necessary but try telling that to a worrying mother.

Kushina looked upon her son wearing the outfit he had specially reserved for when he started at the academy. On his feet he wore black split toed shoes—not very traditional, but Naruto insisted they were better than ninja sandals. The rest of his outfit was a jumpsuit originally designed by Guy Might, except a dark blue that could be mistaken for black in dim light. The jumpsuit used to be the bane of Konoha shinobi, but Minato—at Guy's insistence—had worn the suit for one day and Minato came to a realization…Guy was right, it really was superior clothing for ninja to wear. After making more color options available, Minato had the standard shinobi attire changed to have the jumpsuit. Interestingly, once the color was changed many ninja didn't have a problem with it, and Naruto was one of the first younger ninja to grow to enjoy the outfit.

Finally looking at his face, Kushina could see the brightly glowing blue eyes of her son that held the same intelligent look that Minato's had. Naruto had certainly inherited much of Minato's personality, but his hair made it obvious he was the son of Kushina. Blood red hair marked him as an Uzumaki by blood if not in name. Naruto hadn't inherited his mother's chakra chains, much to her chagrin, but the Uzumaki vitality was very strong in him. Injuries like broken bones would heal in 1/10th the time as his peers, and cuts/burns were little more than momentary nuisances. The part that had amazed Kushina, and especially Tsunade however, was when they realized that upon closer inspection, Naruto's healing was actually perfect in that it didn't shorten his lifespan at all. Somehow his cell's telomeres didn't decay when he was healing, but otherwise decayed at a normal pace. Because of this Naruto had become one of Tsunade's pet projects trying to figure out exactly how his body's regeneration could be so intelligent.

Kushina realized just how long she had been gazing at her son and quickly said her last words to her son "I know that you know but I can't help it. Just remember Naruto, there will probably be a lot of students who want to get close to you just because of who your father is…"

"…But I won't let them, I'm not my father and I'm not my mother, I'm my own person" Naruto interceded with fire in his eyes. He had long grown used to the way people acted around the "honorable" son of the fourth Hokage. Originally it had irritated him to no end, but he learned to overcome it and stop caring about people who couldn't look past status.

Kushina couldn't hold him off any longer; she let him go with a hug and a kiss on his head. As he dashed off towards the academy a single tear was wiped away. Despite being the fabled "Red Hot Blooded Habanero", Kushina was still a mom and seeing your child grow up is always hard. She turned around to grab a water pail for the garden when she dropped her head…the ceiling still needed cleaning and Naruto had left before she could tell him to do it. Sighing she went to grab the cleaning supplies, a mother's work is never done.

* * *

Konoha Academy

Iruka Umino, Jounin of Konoha and head instructor of this year's group, looked around at the students he would be teaching for the next six years. Normally only Chuunin would instruct students, but it was one of the many requirements of the Konoha Initiative that all ninja had to continually improve themselves as well, as a result nearly 1/3 of the former Chuunin had become newly minted Jounin after two years and Iruka was one of them. The benefit was that as a Jounin, Iruka had a much easier time gaining respect from his students who idolized Jounin far more than Chuunin. As Iruka looked around with his trained eyes he focused on several students in particular that were certain to make huge waves in the ninja world in the coming future. His trained eyes noticed each of them doing things that were invisible to each other, but were clear signs that their parents had taken the Konoha Initiative seriously and had intensified their training accordingly.

The first students he gazed upon were in the far right row near the back, the inheritors of the famous InoShikaCho combination. Their fathers had made themselves known for impeccable teamwork when they fought in the third ninja world war and these three would likely become the next generation of the famous combination.

Chouji Akimichi was the heir to the Akimichi clan and like all members of the clan he was constantly eating extremely fattening foods. What many his age didn't realize was that the food they ate was designed to be saved as calories for their body enlargement techniques, minimizing the chakra needed. Chouji was special in that he had already mastered all of his clan's body enlargement techniques, achieving this ten years earlier than his father making him a surefire prodigy to advance his clan even farther.

Shikamaru Nara was the heir to the Nara clan and was a near clone of his pineapple haired father, minus the scars. To an untrained eye Shikamaru was sleeping and ignoring his surroundings, but Iruka saw that Shikamaru's hands were in an upside down cup position with fingertips touching the entire time. This was likely Shikamaru's tick, a trait that all Nara had that displayed when they were thinking intensively. What Shikamaru was thinking about Iruka wasn't sure, but no matter how much of a slacker he may appear to be, the son of the Jounin commander wouldn't have a single weak bone in his body. The trick would be figuring out how to motivate him.

Ino Yamanaka was probably the most skilled of the three, at least in her application of her father's teachings. The Yamanaka family was famous for their mind reading and controlling techniques. Ino's father, Inoichi, was the retired head of the Torture and Interrogation department and now served as Konoha's top psychiatrist. There was supposedly no secret that could be hidden from the man who could get you to spill your life's story without using a single of the clan's famous techniques. Ino seemed to have learned well from her father, she was very sociable talking with several other students like a butterfly, but if you paid attention to the questions she was asking and the things she said, every word was planned to gain information either verbal or non-verbal from the other students. Ino was gathering information so well that she would probably know more about her classmates than Iruka by the end of the day. Knowledge was power, and Ino knew it.

In the middle row directly across from the InoShikaCho children was what would probably become Konoha's next best tracking team. With three more clan heirs choosing to sit next to each other, especially two of them being members of Konoha's four noble clans, great things were sure to come of this group.

The first one he noticed was Kiba Inuzuka, heir to the Inuzuka clan. He was a feral looking child displaying the red triangles common in his clan with a small dog lying on his head. The surprising thing wasn't what he was doing but what both of those things meant. Having the red triangles tattooed meant you were initiated into the clan's techniques, and gaining a partner meant that you had officially been recognized as a full Inuzuka. Neither of these things usually happened before the age of ten at the earliest, Kiba must have been the first to ever achieve these things so young, yet another product of the Konoha Initiative.

Next was Shino Aburame, heir to the Aburame clan. Uncommonly dressed in a very dark green coat that obscured all but his forehead, Shino had been the first Aburame to gain two colonies of Kikai bugs before the age of ten. Very well hidden was a small group of his insects at the doorway entry to the classroom, one of these bugs would attach itself secretly to every single person to enter the room, ensuring that Shino could learn about and track each individual without even having to use his eyes. If Shino continued to progress at this rate, he might very well change the entire face of the Aburame clan in the future.

Last was the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, possibly the strongest clan in Konoha, Hinata Hyuuga. Iruka had been advised by her father to keep close watch on his first child. Hinata was a very timid child and unlike most Hyuuga was not cold to others at all. This made it difficult for her to use the force necessary to apply her clan's techniques properly. This had originally been a large problem that caused Hinata many problems until Konoha's taijutsu master Guy Might had observed her training while delivering a scroll to Hiashi. According to Guy she had the potential to surpass any Hyuuga, but was waiting for something. What that something was Hiashi had spent a long time attempting to discover, but to no avail. As a result he had tried many different methods of training her to varying degrees of success. Where the girl would end up was a mystery to everyone, but potential was something teachers loved to flush out of their students, a challenge that Iruka was looking forward to.

To the far left in again the same row were the last students that truly caught Iruka's eyes. The first of these students was Sakura Haruno, she didn't have a name like the other students that was famous in any way, but the report on her chakra control was staggering. She reportedly had perfect chakra control and perfected the tree walking exercise on her first try. If her stamina could be improved, she could likely become the next Tsunade, something Konoha would never deny the chance to obtain.

Next was Sasuke Uchiha, heir in waiting to the Uchiha clan. The Uchiha were the primary rivals of the Hyuuga clan and also ran the Unified Police Force of Konoha. Their Sharingan was legendary across all of the elemental nations for its power. Sasuke showed all the signs of being a genius but was a point of concern over his anger. This anger was spawned from envy and idolization of his older brother, the heir of the Uchiha clan Itachi. Itachi had turned countless heads with his skill, and the Hokage had been repeatedly petitioned to allow Itachi to graduate early—which never occurred. By the time he had graduated, Itachi was so powerful he had been promoted to Jounin within one month and placed on the Hokage's ANBU squad. Sasuke wanted to live up to his brother's reputation but simply was never able to achieve the power that Itachi had naturally come to. Sasuke had a natural affinity for lightning on top of his fire affinity and if he could master his emotions he was sure to become a force in the future.

The last student that Iruka looked at was possibly the most famous student in the classroom, Naruto Namikaze, the son of the fourth Hokage. What impressed Iruka and all of Naruto's tutors was just how quickly he could break problems down and fix them. It was such an advanced skill some thought it might develop into a bloodline ability—a theory repeatedly denounced by his mother and father. Regardless, Naruto was only at the academy as a formality, even Iruka knew he was beyond ready to graduate, but rules were rules and no one questioned the results of the Konoha Initiative. What would be interesting to observe is just how Naruto would develop as a ninja, he reportedly wanted to establish himself separately from his mother and father, what he would become was a mystery to everyone.

Truly Iruka felt privileged, for a teacher to have so much potential to exist in one group of students, it was like a present. There was plenty of talent amongst the other students, but these were the ones that would certainly shape Konoha's future. This didn't mean he would go easy on them however, in fact he had been instructed by the Hokage and all of the clan heads to push this class especially hard due to their natural talent; a task that Iruka was all too happy to fulfill.

"Welcome everyone" he began. "Starting today you are all shinobi hopefuls of Konohagakure. If you succeed, you will become members of the strongest military force in all of the elemental nations capable of doing things that virtually make you gods among men. But be warned, the life of a ninja is fraught with danger and even though mortality rates have decreased by over 40% since the implementation of the Konoha Initiative, death is still very common. It is even likely you might die during your time here at the Academy; the tools we work with are not dulled, they are full strength, and the sparring is full contact. We do this because being a ninja is not a game and your opponents won't hesitate to kill you. For those of you who fail to graduate, you will not be able to return to normal civilian life, you will become part of the civilian police corps. A place of distinction amongst civilians, but of dishonor amongst ninja; that is your first lesson, there are two sides to everything, what is good to one, is evil to another, right and wrong are determined by the victor, not the loser, this is just the beginning of the next six years of your life. You are no longer children, but you are not adults, what are you? Nothing, for the next six years you are nothing, at the end of that time we will see what you become: failures, or ninja. I wish all of you the best of luck, you'll need it."

* * *

Konoha's Hospital—Later That Day

Tsunade Senju was the greatest medical specialist to ever come out of Konoha. Naturally she was made the head doctor at the hospital and her changes in policy had increased its quality tenfold. Konoha's medical ninja were now indisputably the best in the elemental nations. Tsunade herself had come up with so many new surgery methods and cures for poisons it was thought there was nothing she couldn't fix, until today. Before her was a boy with most of his bones not just broken but shattered, and muscle ligaments torn to hell. "Shizune, what exactly happened to him?"

Shizune was Tsunade's apprentice and direct assistant, only slightly behind Tsunade in skill. "Tsunade-sama, the patient's name is Lee Rock, he's an orphan that desired to join the academy but when it was discovered that his chakra coils were too disfigured to mold chakra outside of his body, it was decided that he would not be allowed to join last year. Since that time he started training himself as hard as possible to be allowed in with the aid of Guy Might who has adopted the boy. Apparently when Guy was out on a mission Lee attempted a training exercise he had been forbidden to attempt until older. The strain was so great; his body released the first of the eight gates instinctively. The end result is as we see here, because of the lack of restraint and control he basically destroyed all of the muscles in his body and the impacts made caused most of his bones to shatter."

Tsunade thanked Shizune and began her diagnostic of the boy's chakra and nervous system, and she found something strange. She did a more in depth diagnostic, and another, and another; after the tenth diagnostic she turned to Shizune. "In all of my years this has never been considered possible, I can fix the boy's muscles and bones, but that's it."

"Is something else amiss Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, she had done a thorough examination of her own, but she was still an apprentice and might have missed something.

"It's his gate of opening" Tsunade replied. "It's permanently open, it can't be closed because the gate simply isn't there to be closed anymore."

"What does that mean Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked wide-eyed, this had never happened before.

"He can still feel pain just fine, but he no longer can instinctively restrain his muscles, they will permanently operate at 100% capacity. The benefit is that now he is just a strong as any Chuunin physically, but he will break his bones and tear his muscles with every strike. I'm recommending he go through experimental testing after he is healed. Clear my other appointments, I need to see the Hokage." Tsunade said as she left the room.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama" Shizune replied as she wrote down Tsunade's recommendations and comments, before leaving the room she took one last look at the young boy "Lee Rock, I hope you are ready for what is about to happen."

* * *

Hokage Tower—Ten Minutes Later

"You're joking, right?" Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage had a large headache. When Tsunade came in demanding to see him immediately, he happily obliged, only to be told a story that had to be impossible. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I don't joke Minato, the boy is in the riskiest position I've ever seen a ninja in, but with the potential to skyrocket his skills. If he can be taught to slightly control his muscles and his bones can be strengthened, he has the potential to become stronger than any ninja physically."

"Can you replicate the process in others?" Minato asked. The potential of this could lead to countless individuals with no chakra skills becoming forces of nature, further strengthening Konoha.

"First, I would not recommend it, the boy will be in pain for a long time and could easily kill himself with strain at anytime. Second, I'm not even sure how it happened, I've never heard of one of the eight gates simply disappearing. This is surely a freak accident at best, we can't expect it to ever happen again, Guy needs to be made aware and I will be assigning Shizune to be the boys personal physician dealing in this matter, she needs a specialization and this would be a perfect opportunity to cover a field I haven't."

"Alright, I will send for Shizune as soon as Guy returns from his mission, thank you Tsunade" responded Minato. After Tsunade had left Minato filled in a special enrollment form for the third time in one day. Not just one, but three special cases would be added to the same class as his son, if Minato were from any other village, he would be afraid of this new class of students, their potential was beyond anything Konoha had seen before.

* * *

Konoha Academy—One Month Later

"Listen up class, I regret to tell you that Kasumi, Fuki, and Ami all succumbed to their injuries from last weeks exercise. I warned you that this training was not to be taken lightly, they were the first, and hopefully last students to die, but it is quite possible many more of you will die as well if you don't work harder from now on." Iruka was both upset and irate, he was sad that his students had died, but annoyed that they hadn't listened to what he had told them. This was military training, not day care; they had to take it seriously. But life had to move on, and there was one more announcement that came directly from the Hokage, it was a bit unorthodox, but orders from the Hokage weren't questioned as a rule. "On another note, today we will have three new students join our classroom as special entries, all at the Hokage's command, you three may come in now."

Into the room came a boy with most of his body covered in casts, only able to walk very slowly. Next came a boy with the tell tale white eyes of the Byakugan. Last came a girl with her hair in buns and a Tai-Chi sword on her back. "Please introduce yourselves," ordered Iruka.

The first to step up was the Hyuuga, "my name is Neji Hyuuga, and I was kept from entering a year due to unforeseen circumstances and have only now gained clearance to join." The unforeseen circumstance was the result of the caged-bird seal being removed from him and all of the branch members of the Hyuuga. Despite the Hyuuga elder's protests, the fourth Hokage had ordered the seal unacceptable and devised a method to remove it. The side effect was a temporary coma and blindness that took time to recover from: Neji had recovered faster than anyone else, showing just as before how powerful the Hyuuga bloodline ran within him.

Next to speak was the girl, "my name is Tenten, and I'm an orphan who only recently joined Konoha. By the grace of the Hokage I have been granted a chance to become a shinobi of Konoha, I hope to become a valuable asset in the future." Tenten had actually joined Konoha several months prior, but had to undergo extensive testing to ensure she wasn't a spy. Minato had finally been convinced and she was allowed to join Konoha's ranks.

Finally came the boy in casts, "I'm Lee Might, adopted son of Konoha's Green Beast, Might Guy. I regrettably have a condition that regularly leaves me in casts and I do not have the ability to use chakra outside of my body, but I swear to become a valuable ninja with only taijutsu!" Lee had adopted the enthusiastic nature of his adopted father and ended up breaking his bones and tearing his muscles at least once a week. This had put him nearly perpetually in casts even with Shizune regularly healing him. If he continued at the rate he was currently going, Shizune had theorized that his bones would become harder than iron in under six months, what a year would bring frightened her.

"Thank you students, please take those empty seats, they belonged to three of our classmates that died last week, let's hope that you won't repeat that mistake." Iruka was harsh and cold when he was teaching the class, but he also regularly met with each of his students once a week to see how they were doing. Minato had been thrilled with his teaching style and was already pushing to have Iruka teach his methods to others. If it continued like this, this would be the last group Iruka ever taught before being made the head of Konoha's education department. Iruka had yet to decide if he wanted such a position or not, maybe he would become a sensei to a Genin team after this group graduated.

* * *

Author's Note

Here's chapter two for you guys, as you can probably tell, I've changed a lot of backstories; it is all with good purpose to advance the story. Bonus points to anyone who can guess where I got the idea for Lee's condition.

As for the caged-bird seal, it is again my theory that Minato is very pragmatic, but caring and would find such an easy avenue for abuse of power would be against his beliefs. So I had him eliminate it. Hiashi wanted it gone as well anyways, and with the Hokage's help it seemed like it would be a small matter, but not necessarily closed matter just yet.

Tenten has something special to her as well if you can't tell; it will be a while before I fully get into her skills though.

Next chapter will time skip to their graduation and start focusing more on important figures to the story directly. Thank you for reading, I hope you have been and will continue to enjoy it!


	4. Day 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 3: Day 1

* * *

Konoha Academy, Yondaime 15

Outside the door to the main classroom stood Iruka Umino the head instructor of Konoha's academy. Today was a big day for Iruka; the students he had been training for the last six years of his life had finally graduated and were to be assigned into their teams. Never before had Konoha produced such a talented group of shinobi straight out of the academy. Not a single one could be mistaken for being a Genin and several of them were easily Chuunin bordering on Jounin in certain cases in raw skill if not in experience.

The teams that had been chosen by the Hokage were unusual to say the least and there was a very large protest when the new generation of the InoShikaCho trio had been denied. But the Hokage's word was law and in these new team arrangements, Minato had not budged an inch. He was determined that continual testing of new methods had to be established in order for Konoha to grow. Iruka had actually been the one to recommend the specific teams to the Hokage, but no one but Minato and himself had to know that.

Iruka finally chose to enter the classroom and all of the minor chatter that had been occurring had halted completely. Misconduct was only a problem for about the first two months until Iruka had decided that pushups were a fantastic way to motivate people to stay quiet. What made it foolproof was when everyone but the perpetrator did the pushups, group mentality won over and the perpetrator didn't bother acting out again for a long while. This didn't mean his students were perfect, emotionless soldiers however. There were indeed a few…youthful…members of his class that kept Iruka on his toes. Today was a meaningful, and long awaited day for all of them however so they were apt to listen closely when Iruka began speaking.

"Good morning everyone, welcome to the last day, in fact the last hour that you will be my students. Momentarily I will assign you to your teams, but first I would like to thank all of you for these last six years. Your patience and endurance has created what is already being called the strongest class of graduates Konoha has ever produced. I have no doubt that you will all go on to great things, but I must caution you all: the road only gets rougher from here. From now own you are shinobi of Konoha and will be both asked and ordered to do things that you will find repulsive and unforgivable. That is the life of a shinobi, we do not always do what is honorable; we do what is necessary. Honor, is the realm of the samurai, not the ninja. If you had problems with this fact, then you should have taken care of them six years ago before entering this academy. Regardless I am proud of all of you, and I expect that in ten years Konoha will have a new wave of ninja to be taught by you all when you are ninja of legend yourselves."

Iruka took a moment to gaze at his class, much of what he said had been repeated thousands of times to them by now, but this moment was special, because now it wasn't the future, it was real, it was tangible. There were no children in front of him now, only shinobi, their childhoods had been long forgotten years ago. Nostalgia can't hold on forever though, and Iruka had business to attend to. "Now I will announce your Genin team assignments and Sensei. Please note that these assignments are permanent until promotions are given or deaths occur. Many of these individuals will likely be the ones you work with for years even after you graduate, so try to get along." In truth, Iruka wasn't concerned about the teamwork of his students, having them alternate teams performing D rank missions had proven to be a boon driving many of his lessons home. Minato had certainly made the right call with the Konoha Initiative; there was hardly a single person in the Land of Fire who thought badly of it. There were even rumors that other nations were beginning to adopt similar policies.

"Now, teams one through six are still in rotation at the moment and there are only twelve of you graduating this year, so we will begin with team seven." This was possibly the one downfall of the Konoha Initiative, the numbers of students that graduated had minimized greatly. The offside however was that the teams who graduated never failed the second test and the ones who didn't graduate gave Konoha a civilian police force that freed up the ANBU and ROOT divisions greatly in their surveillance and protection efforts.

"Team seven will consist of: Sakura Haruno, Uchiha Sasuke, and Naruto Uzumaki. Your Jounin Sensei will be Kakashi Hatake.

"Team eight will consist of: Chouji Akimichi, Neji Hyuuga, and Ino Yamanaka. Your Jounin Sensei will be Guy Might.

"Team nine will consist of: Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, and Tenten. Your Jounin Sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi.

"Team ten will consist of: Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Lee Might. Your Jounin Sensei will be Kurenai Yuuhi.

"Again, these teams are final and should you pass the secondary exam, you will have these individuals as your second family for the immediate future, treat each other well and good luck. You are dismissed until after lunch, at 1pm your Sensei will come to take you to your test." With that, Iruka's time as the primary sensei of the Konoha Twelve came to an end. He grabbed his papers and left to get lunch before the final send off at one.

Meanwhile, the new team members had chosen to group together and learn about one another before meeting their Sensei. The second exam was notorious for being unpredictable and only with flawless teamwork could they hope to pass.

* * *

Team Ten: Kunai Practice Grounds

"Alright guys, team ten is going to be the strongest team of them all!" Shouted Kiba. Six years had done a lot for the boy's skills and the increased training had made his partner Akamaru grow much faster than normal. Already as large as his father Kuromaru, Akamaru had the sharpest nose out of all of the Inuzuka's ninja dogs. Kiba likewise had grown to learn several of the clan's techniques at a rapid pace making him nearly as strong as his sister (a Jounin) in several aspects. He wore the gray jacket that was worn by most of his clan, with dark shorts to match.

"YOSH! Our flames of youth cannot be quelled by anyone! Our team will shine the brightest of them all!" answered Lee to his right, just as enthusiastically. Over the years Lee had broken his bones and shredded his muscular system more times than could be counted. The end result however made his body physically strong enough to pick up a house without any aid whatsoever. In addition his bones were now so thick that even most maces would break before leaving any kind of significant mark on his body. Adding in that his speed and taijutsu were nearly Jounin level, Lee was easily the physically strongest of the Konoha Twelve. His only drawback was that he still could not use chakra for anything outside of his body. He wore the famous green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers of his adopted father despite the protests of many of his classmates.

Giggling to Kiba's left was Hinata, the quietest member of the trio. With very long dark hair, dressed in an overly long navy blue shirt that hanged over her hands, with a similarly colored ninja jumpsuit underneath, she was probably the best of all the Konoha Twelve at hiding her true skill. Originally Hinata had been very reserved and quiet, unwilling to use full strength on anything other than training dummies, which had caused many problems for her former status as heir. That had changed when her now officially older brother Neji had questioned why she wasn't stronger and had her sent to Inoichi Yamanaka for a full mental evaluation without the approval of their father Hiashi. It was discovered that Hinata had a crippling lack of self worth and was diagnosed with severe anxiety. When the Hokage had heard of the news, he took over the situation and had Hinata work with the loudest, most open kunoichi in all of Konoha: Anko.

Within a week Anko had stopped the stuttering that had plagued Hinata for so long, and it seemed that Hinata had taken a liking to snakes being around them so often. This had led to Hinata changing the Jyuuken by wearing sharpened metal nails on her thumb, index, and middle fingers that were laced in poisons and venoms that Hinata had made into nail polish that she was naturally immune to. The new adaptions made it so that Hinata would strike at opponents in mirror of a snake's bite, her arms being trained to move faster than all but the Sharingan eye could follow. In contrast to this hidden sadistic side however, Hinata put on the mask of an innocent, harmless, quiet girl. When she was pushed however, she revealed that she had developed quite a sharp tongue that could make even the stone cold face of her father flinch. She was in fact the second of the Konoha Twelve to have killed, and regularly spent time with Anko in Konoha's T&I department to this day. Some remarked her as more of a snake than even Orochimaru; she was just as feared as she was respected for her name.

"Really now Kiba-kun, Lee-kun, you know we're not meant to ever be the strongest team of our group" Hinata sweetly replied.

Kiba was dumbfounded "What do you mean Hinata? Look at what each of us can do now, we're only going to get stronger from here on out" he argued. Lee nodded in agreement.

She simply shook her head "Look at who we are Kiba-kun, you and Akamaru have the strongest bond of all of your clansmen yet; Lee is the physically strongest Genin to ever graduate from the Academy, and I am the next coming of Orochimaru if you listen to the civilians. We're meant to be a tracking and hunting squad for high profile targets on the run. Your nose, my eyes, and Lee's strength are meant to make for the perfect hunting team. None of that matters though, what we need to focus on, is how we will work together for our second exam." And just like that, Hinata, the once thought most unlikely to lead, had snapped two of the most unruly students into quiet submission.

* * *

Team Nine: Second Floor Classroom

Team nine's congregation was considerably quieter than team ten's. It wasn't due to awkwardness or aggravation that they were all so quiet. Instead it was because nothing needed to be said. Team nine was easily the most intelligent of all of the Konoha Twelve and each of its' members knew within minutes how they would work together and the purpose of their team. There was no doubt that they were going to become a strategy, planning, scouting team. What confused them was why a team design reserved usually for wartime was being implemented now during the longest peace known among ninja.

With his head on the desk looking asleep was Shikamaru. Outwardly not much had apparently changed, still wearing the same clothes and hairstyle as his father. Inwardly however Shikamaru had only become more intelligent with age, already able to beat his father at Shogi once every three matches. Like all Nara men, Shikamaru was simply apathetic to everything and regularly only muttered one word: "troublesome."

Standing to his left was another silent shinobi whose only discerning features were his glasses and spikey dark hair. This was Shino, who over the years hadn't changed the typical garb of his family, but had adopted two more hives, being the first among the Aburame to have four separate hives at such a young age. More often than not Shino was more concerned with ways to increase the strength of his colony than speaking to others. Regardless he was still the most logical of the Konoha Twelve—a trait that made his father proud. He was merely waiting for the need to speak.

To Shikamaru's right sitting down, looking bored was a Kunoichi in a Chinese style shirt and pants with her hair in two buns, Tenten. At first a mystery, Tenten had proven to be the greatest weapons specialist to ever emerge at such a young age, to date she could handle over fifty types of weapons without blinking an eye, and if she threw a kunai, it didn't ever miss by even a single degree. The academy instructors had thought maybe she had some sort of Doujutsu, but that was disproven when she landed the shots without actually looking at the target. Where Tenten came from was a mystery to everyone, including herself, but her skills, intelligence, and proven loyalty was more than enough to make people look the other way.

"How many minutes?" Tenten muttered.

"Twenty-six" stated Shino.

Mimicking Shikamaru, Tenten slammed her head on the desk waiting for the wait to end.

* * *

Team Eight: Lunchroom

Two of the members of Team Eight sat in slight shock at the rate their teammate was downing food. Chouji had mastered all of his clan's abilities already and took to maximizing his caloric intake to fuel those techniques. Next to Lee he was the physically strongest of the Konoha Twelve. His garb was the same armored style of his father and his spikey hair was down to his shoulders.

Across from him on the right sat Neji, the current heir of the Hyuuga clan. Once he had recovered from his unsealing, Neji had proven to be the greatest genius to ever come from the Hyuuga clan. In repentance for his father's death, Hiashi had adopted him and made him clan heir, much to Neji's displeasure. Though none of the Hyuuga could understand it, Neji was convinced that Hinata should be the heir and was far stronger than him. Regardless, Neji had already completed learning every single one of the Hyuuga's Jyuuken techniques and was already nearing Hiashi's level in strength. There was no doubt that Neji would likely be the first to be promoted to Jounin, likely without ever being made Chuunin at all.

Across from the left sat the third of the clan heirs, Ino. Her hair in a blonde ponytail, she wore a purple skirt and a short, sleeveless purple tank top. She had proven her intelligence long ago, but what many didn't know was that she in addition to having mastered most of her family's techniques, she had also learned the basics of puppet manipulation with chakra strings. She was still slightly a novice at the art, but it allowed her to do things members of her clan couldn't: hold an opponent still while she invaded their mind.

The three of them had quickly picked Neji as the leader of the group and deciphered that they were meant to be a capture and interrogation squad just like the InoShikaCho trio was. What annoyed Ino and Chouji's fathers was why Shikamaru had not been placed with them. Ino was just glad to not be stuck with both a glutton and a sloth on her team.

* * *

Main Instruction Hall, 1pm

As the last of the students filtered in, Iruka said his last words. "Welcome back everyone, without further ado, here are your Sensei."

The first to walk in was a woman dressed in a dress designed to look like bandages. She had long, wavy dark hair and eyes that could easily be mistaken for a Sharingan. "My name is Kurenai Yuuhi, team ten your exam starts now, find me." Then her form faded from the room. Iruka could only chuckle at Kiba and Lees shocked faces.

Once team ten left the room, the second Sensei to walk in was a dark skinned man with spikey black hair and a goatee in standard Jounin attire that was smoking a cigarette. "I'm Asuma Sarutobi, team nine come with me" and the members quietly left without a word.

For a moment there was nothing, and then suddenly the window nearest Iruka broke open from a green blur that shouted "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" There stood Konoha's loudest ninja, the green beast, Guy Might. "Lee, were your flames brightened by my youthful entrance? Lee?"

Iruka muttered pinching his forehead "Might-san, Lee's team already left."

"I see! Lee's youth shines even brighter than my own, but I will not be defeated! Team eight, come with me!" With that he jumped back out the window, the trail of Ino's tears visible at her dismay towards her sensei.

Finally, a slouching shinobi with silver hair that defied gravity and his headband over one eye entered. "Yo, my name is Kakashi Hatake, team seven meet me on the roof in one minute." He then used the **Shunshin** to disappear.

As the members of team seven quickly left the room, Iruka could only stand in shock; Kakashi had been on time for once. What exactly did the Hokage say to him?

_Flashback: The Same Morning_

_ After dismissing all of the other instructors Minato glared at a smiling Kakashi and said one simple line. "Kakashi, if you are ever unduly late for teaching my son in any fashion, you will wear Guy's outfit for a year, am I understood?"_

_ Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then simply nodded his head and left with the Hokage's permission, in the spot he had been standing was a puddle that Minato was embarrassed to see. He called his secretary in to clean it after he took a photo of it. If the threat didn't work, the blackmail would._

_End Flashback_

After recovering from his shock, Iruka picked up his things and turned off the lights, the children were gone, a new generation of shinobi was born.

* * *

Academy Rooftop: One Minute Later

Kakashi stood with his back to a pole staring at his three students, not wanting to waste time he began. "Alright first things first, I already know a lot about you three, but I want to hear it from your own mouths. So introduce yourselves telling your teammates and I anything you think relevant. After which I want you to tell me something you know about me since rumor has it that you were all intelligent enough to learn enough about possible Jounin Sensei. Sasuke, you first."

A boy sitting forward with sharp spikey hair wearing a dark blue shirt and white shorts with the Uchiha crest on them began to speak. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I am the second son of the head of the Uchiha clan. I have an affinity for fire and lightning type jutsu and I also have a fully matured Sharingan. My likes are training; my dislikes are losing at anything. My goal is to become stronger than my brother Itachi. As for you Sensei, you are Kakashi Hatake, the only ninja outside of the Uchiha clan to have a Sharingan given to you by Obito Uchiha during the Third Shinobi World War."

A little unnerved that Sasuke had chosen to pick that bit of his history to explain Kakashi quickly moved on. "Interesting, Sakura you next."

A girl in a red sleeveless dress with pink hair and green eyes spoke "my name is Sakura Haruno, I am the second generation of my family to be a shinobi but nothing famous to note about my family name. I have low chakra reserves, but my chakra control is considered to be better than Tsunade's which has granted me a great deal of skill in Genjutsu, which I would like to expand upon by learning Medical Ninjutsu. My likes are reading and painting, there isn't much I dislike really. Kakashi-sensei, you are known for having copied over 1000 jutsu with your Sharingan and are known as Copy-cat Kakashi."

Sakura's response was much more expected but accurate to what he had asked. Finally it was time to ask the student he was most interested in. "Alright, Naruto you're last, go ahead."

Naruto still wore the same dark—almost black—jumpsuit as before, his dark red hair was now grown out longer and kept in a loose braided ponytail. "My name is Naruto Namikaze, I'm the son of Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage of Konoha and Kushina Uzumaki, last of the Uzumaki clan in name. I am also the jailer and wielder of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. My likes are training and hunting; my dislikes are vegetables of any kind. Sensei, your only original jutsu is the infamous **Chidori** which you use to assassinate individuals you deem as threats, also you never use your Sharingan unless you are serious about a fight."

Naruto had learned of his status in the fourth year of the academy when he was training and a large boulder had fallen on him. The Kyuubi had saved his life out of necessity, but the forced breaking of the seal did two things that put Naruto in the hospital for a month. The first was that it fused the Kyuubi to Naruto making their chakra one and the same. The second was that the influx of chakra ripped apart his chakra coils. They were rebuilt quickly by that same chakra, but no longer would Naruto be capable of molding his chakra to perform any jutsu at all.

He had spent the next year of the academy learning how to control and harness the chakra, in the end he became the most powerful of the Konoha Twelve simply because his chakra now proved to be corrosive to everyone but himself. He learned this in his first spar with a student when he covered his hands in chakra. The resulting damage from his punch had killed the student later on—no amount of medical treatment was able to stop it. It was considered very fortunate that Naruto's accident had occurred directly before the specialization year, as he was now able to summon and use the Kyuubi's chakra at will; he simply used the brains he received from his father to adjust his newfound skillset to individualize himself even more.

The major drawback that remained was that Naruto continually had problems with anger now and a general order of warning was listed for if he lost his temper. The trigger for telling so were his eyes; they were permanently slit like a cat's eyes now but still the same blue, except for when he lost his anger and they would turn fiery red. All of Naruto's classmates were aware of these things, which had been deemed a necessary safety measure by the Hokage.

"Well then" Kakashi replied, "It seems you are an interesting group of students, hopefully you will survive my test tomorrow. Report to training ground seven at four a.m. sharp, lateness will result in failure." With that Kakashi disappeared leaving the students to determine what they would do.

"Okay," Sakura started "we all know that Kakashi-sensei is way above our level, but what kind of a test would he use?"

"The bell test, no doubt" replied Naruto.

"The what?" Asked Sakura.

"The bell test, the same test given to the third Hokage, the Sannin, my father's team, and Kakashi's team; all of which were also team seven. It's a tradition that I doubt Kakashi will break."

"And how exactly do you know that?" Responded Sasuke irately. Naruto was too much of a know-it-all for his liking.

"Because of the reason I just stated, my godmother, godfather, father, and Kakashi were all a part of team seven. They like the tradition so the chances of it changing are slim" Naruto responded with an edge to his voice.

"So what is the bell test Naruto?" Sakura asked, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Kakashi will have two bells, he will tell us that anyone who gets a bell passes and whoever doesn't fails for another year at the academy. The goal of the test is not to get the bells but to work together as a team, if we can do that despite all the goading he will give us, Kakashi will give us a pass" Naruto explained.

"Okay, well if that's the case, Naruto why don't you attack upfront with your chakra, Sasuke how about you attack at midrange with your jutsu and move in if you see an opening. I'll stay at the back and fire kunai and shuriken while trying to use genjutsu on sensei. What do you think?" Sakura proposed.

"I figured that's how our team was built in the first place, so good with me," Naruto answered.

Sasuke simply huffed. He couldn't deny the logic of the setup; so he just went along with it.

"Alright, see you guys tomorrow morning" waved Sakura and they all went home to prepare for the test.

* * *

Sky Country Ruins

Madara Uchiha gazed at the large leech-like creature with a Noh mask in front of him. This creature was the fabled Reibi, the creature that Orochimaru had spent a month researching and then foolishly abandoned. Madara was not so foolish however and had paid close attention to the theories Orochimaru had written down. This creature was the key to unlimited power and Madara would do whatever it took to gain that power.

"So, you are the Reibi" Madara began.

"And you are a man filled with darkness and hatred" the Reibi replied.

"My name is Madara Uchiha, I have a proposition you might find beneficial."

"What could you offer me that my current lord does not already offer me? He intends to destroy an entire nation with my power causing great amounts of misery and pain, which will make me stronger than ever. There is nothing more that I want."

"Your master offers you the pain of a country, I offer you the pain of a world, a never-ending wave of pain and misery that you can feed off of at any time, anywhere. Join with me, and you will become more powerful than any other creature alive."

Madara's offer was tempting, but difficult to believe for the Reibi that had only just gained its freedom after being isolated for several years. "And how will you go about creating such destruction?" It asked.

"I will fuse you with a statue that will become your new body. The body will resist you because you are not a true tailed beast. I am the only one who can control this statue, I will make it submit to you and you will no longer have to feed off of weak human bodies to survive."

"And I suppose you want my power, the dark chakra, in return for your act of kindness?" There was no other reason that someone would seek the Reibi out. It was the very reason its current master had worked so hard to find it.

"Yes, I will create a contract seal connecting the two of us, neither of us will be able to die while the other lives. My hatred will fuel you initially, but as your power grows you will not need it and the excess dark chakra you create, you will siphon into me when I call for it. We will both be immortal, we will both be unstoppable, and in the wake of our march, we will leave the world in a pain and misery greater than any man can imagine." What the Reibi did not notice was the hypnotic effect being cast upon it by the man's eyes, slowly making it trust him more and more.

"And how long will it take for you to prepare this body for me? I will give you nothing until I have what is mine."

"Three months, at that time overtake your current master and run amok as if you were a tailed beast on a rampage, my organization will do the rest."

"What guarantee do I have that you will follow through with this plan?" It asked.

"Go ahead, feed on my thoughts, and see that what I say is true," Madara offered; the deal was as good as done.

So the Reibi did and it found the man's words—and his hatred—to be true. It would accept the offer, if only to feed off of his hatred even more. Those that sought power were many, and this man would fall prey to the Reibi's power like all of those before it.

* * *

Namikaze Home: That Evening

Naruto entered his family's house to see his mom and dad both waiting for him. It was pretty regular for them to wait for him to get home and have dinner. His mom was adamant on having a family dinner and unless his father had important business to deal with, he always made sure to be home every night.

"So, who'd you get paired with?" Asked his father knowingly.

"Like you don't know dad, with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno" Naruto replied.

"Oh so you got paired with Sakura, huh? That's great! When can I expect grandchildren?" Kushina happily teased.

"Mom! I told you there's nothing between Sakura and I" Naruto whined. After the accident of killing the other student, no one had talked to Naruto much or sat with him during lunch anymore. Sakura had been the first to do so and they had sat together ever since. His mom was convinced they were in a relationship despite his insistence otherwise.

"Whatever you say honey, but I'm telling you she's going to be a real catch later on, you should make your claim while you can!"

"All right Kushina that's enough," Minato interjected much to Naruto's relief. "So tell me Naruto, what do you think of the team pairings?" Minato was always curious to get his son's impression of things; it was both a test of his observational and critical thinking skills.

"Well, Sakura, Sasuke and I are obviously modeled after a fairly typical team seven set up with a medic/genjutsu specialist, a taijutsu specialist, and a ninjutsu specialist. Your original intention was to probably mimic Kakashi's team setup because of it's potential until the Kyuubi messed things up, but the methodology still works." Naruto had known what his father was looking for and had prepared his responses on the way home.

"Very good, what about the other teams though?" his father pushed.

"First, you replaced Shikamaru for Neji in the InoShikaCho set up, I think you did this because of Ino's advanced skills and the usefulness of a Hyuuga's Jyuuken to disable opponents. There was probably hell from their parents over the set up, but I'm willing to bet you convinced them of the potential behind it. This team makes well enough sense, but it's the other two that confuse me," Naruto said.

"How so?" Minato inquired.

"Well, you obviously put the three smartest students together on one team with Shikamaru, Shino, and Tenten. They're obviously not meant for the frontlines or even that much fieldwork, they will almost certainly be built around tactics and strategy forming which wouldn't be a problem, except that it's a team formation not commonly used. Also, in the team with Kiba, Hinata, and Lee, you've set up a hunter/tracking squad."

Minato smirked, "and what's wrong with that?" he could see that his son had looked underneath the underneath just like he had taught him.

"Nothing, except that Konoha has a surplus of ninja teams that fill that role already with the number of missing ninja having dropped by over 70% since you've been Hokage. In addition, if we take Lee and Hinata's specific skills into consideration it really feels more like an assassination squad than anything else." Naruto answered.

"What are you trying to say Naruto? That your father is preparing to go to war?" Kushina jumped in, she hated long-winded strategic explanations, and did not enjoy the route her son's thinking was going. She had grown up in war, and did not want to see it break out again, especially by her husband's hand.

"NO! It's just, these team formations, the restructuring of Konoha's defenses, and the Konoha Initiative led me to think that he's preparing to be attacked by someone or something that he isn't sure we're ready for," Naruto defended.

There was silence for a few moments when Minato finally spoke up. "You're right Naruto, and I think it's time that your mother and I told you about what happened the day you were born."

"Minato!" Interrupted Kushina.

"Kushina, we can't keep it from him anymore, he's nearly figured it out as it is. Would you rather he hears it from Kakashi?" Minato inquired, this was a discussion he dreaded having, but knew was necessary now that Naruto was officially a ninja.

"What about the day I was born? It has to do with the Kyuubi doesn't it?" Naruto asked; it seemed like the Kyuubi was the source of all of his problems.

"The day you were born Naruto, you were arguably the most well guarded baby ever born. Jiraiya-sensei, Tsunade, Sarutobi-sama, Kakashi, as well as several other ANBU level shinobi were all guarding you directly with one of the most difficult to break barriers in the world. This was all to make sure the sealing of the Kyuubi into you from your mother went smoothly.

"As we expected, a man did attempt to interrupt the sealing and likely unleash the Kyuubi. He was very powerful, able to outpace Sarutobi-sama and almost reached you until he was sucker punched by Tsunade and sent flying. Your birth went off without a hitch, but the man worries me. He had skills with space/time jutsu matching if not above my own according to Sarutobi-sama and he had too much knowledge about the barrier for my liking. He disappeared without a trace after Tsunade's punch and we haven't heard anything since."

"But as I've told your father, that's no reason to believe war is on the horizon. All it means is that someone tried to get the Kyuubi when it would be easiest to capture" Kushina added.

"And as I've told your mother, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The man knew too much about the location and barrier of your sealing and birth. We've been at peace for a very long time now, I don't want war to break out, but tensions have slowly been rising over the years and Konoha is not short of enemies. Konoha needs to be ready for what is likely to happen and the generations are shifting, yours will be the next one to take the reins of leadership from us and I want you all to have the skills necessary to be prepared for it." Minato explained.

Through all of this Naruto just sat down looking at his lap. It wasn't the attack that bothered him, but that someone might be stronger than his father. He would never admit it, but Naruto had always found refuge in the fact his father was the strongest shinobi alive. The idea that there was an enemy stronger than that scared him to the core.

"Dad's right mom," Naruto answered. "Konoha needs to be ready for anything, besides look at all the good his efforts have done: none of the other villages are remotely ready to take us on for at least five years, maybe longer if my generation is as strong as you say we are."

"But Naruto, you shouldn't live life like war is around every corner, that's what leads to war in the first place" Kushina told him while looking at Minato pointedly.

"I know mom, but we're ninja and our world doesn't work that way no matter how much we wish it would. I'm gonna go to my room, I need to rest for my test tomorrow."

"What test do you think Kakashi is going to give you?" Minato asked glad for a change of topic hopefully avoiding an argument with his wife later that night like so many before.

"The bell test dad, Kakashi is to lazy to think up something new" and with that Naruto walked up the stairs and shut his door.

"Well, I think Naruto has the right idea, I'm going to head to bed myself" Minato said, trying to avoid his wife that was surely in a bad mood now.

"Minato…" Kushina warned.

"I know Kushina, but he…"

"…Couch."

"But…"

"Couch."

"Just let me…"

"Couch."

Minato sighed, out of the many enemies he had defeated and battles he had won, no man could ever defeat his wife when she was in demon mode.

* * *

Author's Note

Okay here it is guys, the next chapter of Faith, Hope, and Love. Sorry for the slight delay in updating, but I'm making up for it with the longest chapter yet, and the next chapter is soon to follow. We're officially moving out of the introductory phase of the story and into Arc I. I'm sure some of you are piecing a lot of the puzzle together so far, but I assure you there's a lot more to be revealed than you've seen so far.

In short: Minato is a pragmatist and Kushina is a pacifist. Minato is just trying to protect Konoha and preparing for the worst. If it means he sleeps on the couch, so be it. His father from day 1 has groomed Naruto, and as such he agrees with his father more often than his mother, but he knows better than to argue with her.

The next chapter is going to have the bell test and training initiations by the sensei to their teams. After that chapter is when shit will hit the fan, keep with me; we're almost there!

Also, to GoldenZebraz: Nice guess on Lee but no cigar, I've actually never heard of the anime you mentioned. The idea for Lee's ability actually comes from and anime called Durarara, which I highly recommend.


	5. Underneath the Underneath

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 4: Underneath the Underneath

* * *

Training Ground Seven: 4:00am

In training ground seven stood Kakashi, staring at his new students. They were all standing at perfect attention, but he could tell none of them were at their best. Anxiety and excitement made sleep difficult, and 4:00am was a time not many enjoyed waking up at—his ever "youthful" rival excluded. Kakashi did all of this on purpose, he was testing his students from the minute they entered the field. Shinobi often were required to take on missions where sleep was hard to come by and at any moment you could face an opponent years beyond your skill level. Kakashi didn't expect his students to pass this test, none ever had before, what would change now? They stood like that for over an hour before Kakashi started, just to irritate them.

"Good morning everyone" he began. "Today I will be testing to see if you are truly able to become shinobi or not. If you fail this test, you will be relegated to the civilian police force and never again given the chance to become shinobi." As he pulled a single bell out of his pouch, he continued, "If you can manage to grab this bell from me, you will pass and become my direct apprentice. If you fail, you will go to the civilian police force. Are there any questions?"

Naruto was the first to raise his hand, "Sensei, that isn't the traditional bell test though."

"And here I thought the son of my sensei would be smarter than that," Kakashi replied. "I'm disappointed in you Naruto. Does anyone have any idea why this test is different than the traditional bell test?" _I have to divert his attention before he figures it out._

Sakura responded, "Sensei, it means that you aren't interested in teaching anyone, but you are being forced to by someone. To get around this, you have made a test that will ensure you either don't have to teach anyone, or you will only have to deal with one student instead of an entire team."

_Good reasoning skills._ Kakashi thought, _but she's not looking deep enough._ "Well, it seems we actually have a student who paid attention in class about critical thinking, maybe I should just accept you as my apprentice and send the other two off?"

"But Kakashi-sensei! That's not fair!" Shouted Naruto, his agitation increasing by the minute.

Kakashi flared killing intent, "Fair is for the honorable, Genin. Samurai deal in honor, not shinobi. Tradition is for those who are unable and unwilling to adapt to new situations. To follow tradition as a shinobi is to die." _One more push ought to do it._ "I have been given full authority by the Hokage to decide who I do or do not teach, not you. So, I will explain in clear detail what your situation is before we begin:

"My name is 'Copy Cat' Kakashi Hatake, elite Jounin and former ANBU captain of Konohagakure. I was taught by the Fourth Hokage, and made Chuunin before I was ten years old. I am currently one of the top ten strongest shinobi in all of Konoha. I have knowledge of over 1000 different jutsu and am a likely candidate to become the Fifth Hokage. No student has ever trained under me before. If you manage to win this challenge, you will become one of the strongest shinobi alive. Your task is to grab this bell from my person before the sun cracks over the horizon. The limits of this exercise are this training ground, you have fifteen minutes to prepare, when that time is up, come at me with the intent to kill."

With that Kakashi **Shunshined** into the trees and observed his students closely. The one thing his Sharingan couldn't do was read minds but he could easily tell what each one was thinking.

* * *

Sasuke had been quiet throughout the briefing and only could think of one thing. _One of the strongest shinobi alive, he's the one who can make me stronger than Itachi. I have to do this or else I will never be able to look my father in the eye again!_

Ever since he could remember, Sasuke had always been compared to Itachi, despite being one of the most skilled to ever come out of the Uchiha clan, in Itachi's wake Sasuke was nothing more than a blip on the radar. His father had stopped speaking to him unless it was necessary. If Sasuke failed here then his father would forever consider him a failure, maybe even disown him from the main branch.

Itachi had always been kind to Sasuke, even now as the captain of Konoha's ROOT division he still found time to interact with him. But no amount of kindness from Itachi could replace that cold look in his father's eyes. Those eyes that uttered one simple word with their gaze: _worthless._ Sasuke was not worthless! He would show his father, he would show Itachi, and he would show everyone just how powerful he was. His salvation was simply one bell away.

* * *

Naruto was perplexed. Kakashi had always been so kind to him before, what had changed? He had been certain Kakashi would use the bell test, but this was completely different. Did Kakashi not want him to be his student?

That thought just angered Naruto more; he had worked so hard in his young life only to have his hard work destroyed by the Kyuubi's intervention. But he hadn't let that stop him, and become stronger still. Sure he had some anger issues, but with time he would surely become one of the strongest shinobi alive with his chakra capacity alone! There was no way Kakashi could think so little of him. Was there?

* * *

Sakura couldn't figure out how she felt. Naruto had been wrong and the test was nowhere as simple or easy as she thought it would be. Kakashi-sensei was so different from the day before, now he was so…mean. It looked like he hated the idea of teaching so much that there was no way he would pass any of them.

_But Kakashi-sensei praised me for my insight! Maybe he has already planned to pass me!_ Her inner voice thought. She had long ago been to a meeting with Inoichi who had revealed that voice to be a manifestation of her Id. He had told her that while it always spoke in what it perceived to be her best interest, its perspective of the world was very primal in nature and likely wouldn't understand complex situations well.

Still, Sakura couldn't deny her Id's words. What if Kakashi-sensei really had meant what he had said and meant to make her his apprentice? The strength she could achieve under his tutelage was undeniable.

_But it can't be that easy,_ her inner voice spoke. _Kakashi-sensei is an elite Jounin. He wants me to prove I'm worthy to be his student._

"I can't defeat him alone though…" Sakura muttered to herself.

"What was that Sakura?" Naruto asked.

_Naruto…he's so strong, surely he would prove himself to Kakashi-sensei…wait that's it!_ "I said I can't defeat him alone Naruto, none of us can. Kakashi-sensei told us himself that he's an elite Jounin, we're all strong, but none of us are that strong" she responded.

"What're you saying Sakura, work together?" Sasuke asked. "You heard Kakashi-sensei, only one of us can possibly become his apprentice."

"No, I mean, yes, but only to get the bell. Think about it Sasuke, there's no way any of us can take him on alone. Even your brother would have a hard time fighting him." She knew that Sasuke couldn't deny her words.

"So what are you proposing then?" Sasuke could see where she was going with this, but he wasn't going to deal with tricks.

"We team up like we planned yesterday until we grab the bell. Then we fight three-on-three with each other and the winner becomes Kakashi-sensei's apprentice" Sakura clarified. "It's the only way any of us will have a chance at this."

Sasuke liked the odds, Sakura was no match for him and he could figure out how to deal with Naruto. "Fine, I'm in for now."

"Naruto, what about you?" Sakura asked; she needed him on board for this to work.

Naruto couldn't think straight, something didn't feel right, but Sakura was giving them all a fair shot, how could he say no? "Alright, let's do this."

* * *

Kakashi sighed in annoyance, Sakura had the first part of the idea down, but she just wasn't picking up on the hidden message in everything he said; none of them were. Either way their time was up so he **Shunshined** into the field.

"Hopefully you spent your time wisely, it is now five, the Sun will crack the sky in less than one hour. Your test begins…now!"

All three students jumped backwards and as they landed split into nine moving to Kakashi's right and left. Kakashi enjoyed seeing the speed with which they moved, but he had seen Sakura making the hand signs for the **Clone Jutsu** while she was in the air. All of these clones were hers.

Kakashi moved his arm to block a punch from one of the Naruto lookalikes on reflex and was surprised to see the punch connect. Kakashi quickly drew a kunai and decapitated the clone only to see it turn to mud. _A mud clone! She faked the hand signs for the regular clones while molding chakra for the mud clones. Excellent deception! That will tax her chakra quite a bit to create six mud clones though._

Kakashi threw another kunai at the Naruto clone to his right, but this time the kunai simply phased through. _Wait, a combination of mud and regular clones? Performing both at once takes outstanding chakra control, she really wasn't kidding._

At that moment Kakashi felt the heat of a **Great Fireball Jutsu** coming at him, instead of jumping he rolled to the side. _You can't dodge in midair, nice try though._ That was Kakashi's thought until he felt the dirt shift under his feet. He jumped out of the way just in time for Naruto's chakra covered hands to emerge from the ground. The claws extended from Naruto's hands to follow Kakashi into the air. Kakashi replaced himself with a log in the brush just in time to avoid what would have likely been third degree chakra burns if not the loss of his leg altogether.

_The first attack was just a decoy for a __**Headhunter Jutsu**__ followed up by Naruto's chakra claws to catch me in the air? This is the kind of teamwork I'd expect from a team of Chuunin that's worked together for years. What exactly has Iruka been teaching them?_

Kakashi suddenly felt a large spike of chakra. It was only his several years of experience that made him **Shunshin** several meters away instead of jumping to another branch. It was fortunate he had, the tree he had been sitting in as well as the trees surrounding it all collapsed at once. He could see the tip of Naruto's chakra tail fading away at the edge of the destruction. _Naruto can't move that quickly, that was over fifteen meters from the substitution and the destruction was over ten more. That means…_

As Kakashi looked back into the clearing he had moved from, he saw the log previously thought shattered sitting untouched. _Damn, I forgot, Naruto can't perform Jutsu anymore. That was Sakura's __**Headhunter**__ with a Genjutsu to make me think it was Naruto. They've planned each move from the start. Fine, if they want to be serious, then I will be too._

Kakashi jumped back into the clearing, "not bad, I will admit I underestimated you all. But you're still way out of your league." He then pulled up his headband to reveal his Sharingan. The world slowed around him, sharpened, and he regained his depth perception. The genjutsu Sakura had put on the battlefield disappeared revealing Sasuke and Naruto on either side of him.

Kakashi quickly kicked them both away and rolled forward and around to reveal Sakura grabbing for the bell. Kakashi let off a **Fireball Jutsu** without any words and ran forward. He then kicked Naruto at full force sending the boy flying into a tree, even with the Kyuubi's chakra it would disorient him for a little while. Sasuke was close behind him trying to outpace Kakashi, but even with his fully matured Sharingan, Sasuke was still a child and Kakashi had quickly outpaced and locked him in an arm hold. "It doesn't matter if your Sharingan can see my moves, if your body can't keep up" he advised.

"Doesn't matter, you lose" Sasuke smirked.

Kakashi looked behind him to see a smug looking Sakura holding the bell standing next to Naruto. "It looks like we win Kakashi-sensei," she said.

Kakashi eye-smiled knowingly, "Hmm, you'd be right if not for two things. First, this isn't the normal bell test so your teamwork wasn't enough to pass. Second, look at the sky."

The Genin were crestfallen to see the Sun already well more than cracked over the horizon, for all their skill and teamwork, they had lost track of time. "However, I will admit to being impressed by your skills. That teamwork was phenomenal, but not enough to prove your worth to me. So we will take a five-minute break, after which you will have to decide which one of you deserves to be my apprentice. If you can't choose, then I will choose for you." He **Shunshined** into the trees again thinking: _please let them figure it out; these kids are way too good to be sent to the civilian police force._

* * *

Sakura sighed; she knew what would come when Kakashi-sensei returned. The three of them would fight and she would lose. Sasuke's Sharingan would see right through her genjutsu eliminating most of her skill set. Naruto would then likely overpower Sasuke, if not kill him depending upon how angry Sasuke made him. It all made sense, Kakashi-sensei knew from the start Naruto was the strongest, and he was his sensei's son. There wouldn't be anyone else Kakashi-sensei would want to train. She would say it should be Naruto and forgo the fight she couldn't win. The civilian police force couldn't be that bad.

* * *

Sasuke was running through countless fight scenes and by the minute and continued to grow angrier and angrier. No matter how he ran it through is mind, especially after seeing Naruto's raw display of power, there was just no way to defeat the red haired boy.

_I can't give this up, not when I'm so close. I will not lose to you Itachi; I will NOT fail!_

* * *

Naruto's brow was furrowed in deep thought, the fight had worn the anger out of him and he was finally thinking clearly. _Something just isn't right, there's no reason why Kakashi would change the rules like this at the last second._ He kept running through the words Kakashi had spoken to them before the fight that he hadn't listened to before:

… _Tradition is for those who are unable and unwilling to adapt to new situations…_

… _Fair is for the honorable, Genin…_

He kept running the thoughts through his mind, and then it clicked. "THAT'S IT!" He shouted.

"What's it?" Asked a very confused Sakura.

"Sakura, what did Kakashi sensei say when I said the test wasn't fair?" Naruto inquired.

"He said that fair is for the honorable, like Samurai…" she wasn't getting his point.

"No, he said 'fair is for the honorable _Genin_'! He was calling us Genin even though we shouldn't have the title yet," Naruto explained.

"That doesn't mean anything, he could've just been referring to you since he probably wants you as his apprentice" Sakura replied, there was just no other answer in her mind.

"You're forgetting something Sakura," Sasuke interjected. "A shinobi that becomes apprenticed does not have a specific title other than 'apprentice'. Naruto may have a point."

"Sakura, what was one of the things that Iruka-sensei always told us to do?" Naruto asked.

"He always said to 'look underneath the underneath'," Sakura's mind still couldn't grasp the point he was trying to make, in her mind she had lost and it was final.

"Exactly, Kakashi-sensei is also famous for saying that in the village! Iruka-sensei probably learned it from him," Naruto answered.

"Would you get to the point Naruto?" Sasuke interrupted, he didn't like long-winded speeches.

"Pfft, you're just like my mom," Naruto retorted. "Kakashi-sensei knew he would be teaching us, knew he would be teaching _me._ He knows that I've been raised around people from team seven and that I would know about the bell test. He changed the bell test _and_ created a fake story just to throw us off the trail. To get us to think underneath the underneath!"

Sakura's eyes widened, she wasn't used to seeing such intelligent thinking from Naruto, but he seemed so certain of his words. "What about the second try though? What's the point of making us decide who becomes the apprentice?"

Naruto grinned widely, he was finally thinking with the knowledge his father had trained him to use. "Kakashi-sensei is known for saying one other thing 'those who abandon the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash'."

Sasuke smacked his head, "that's exactly what the Will of Fire that they slammed into our heads says, he's not just testing us on our teamwork, he's testing us on our loyalty."

Sakura's shield of defeat was finally broken and the light shone through. They could all still pass, they just had to tell Kakashi-sensei 'no'!

The three of them quickly worked out what they were going to say and waited for their sensei to return.

* * *

Kakashi returned to see his students standing at attention once more. "Well, have you all decided who is going to be the apprentice?"

"Not me!" shouted Naruto.

"Not me!" shouted Sakura.

"Not me!" shouted Sasuke.

"Well then, I suppose I'm just going to have to pick then, Naruto you're it" Kakashi quickly responded.

"Kakashi-sensei, I refuse!" he responded.

Kakashi inwardly grinned: _they've got it!_ "Oh my, well your loss, fine Sakura you're it."

"Kakashi-sensei, I refuse!" she also responded.

Kakashi was nearly jumping up and down with happiness. "Well I've never had someone refuse my offering to teach before, let alone two. Oh well, let's go then Sasuke."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke hesitated, what if Naruto was wrong; he could be losing his only chance to surpass Itachi. But he couldn't deny Naruto knew Kakashi better than any of them, "…I refuse."

"Are you sure?" He asked, they all nodded and he smiled "then you all…pass!"

The wave of relief in all of them was more than obvious. But the easy part was over, now he had to make them into the greatest team since the Sannin. If their current skill levels were any indication, then the Sannin would be considered second rate by the time he was done with them.

* * *

**Author's Note**

I told you the next chapter wasn't far off! Well that officially deals with the bell test. I basically explained all of the reasoning in the chapter so I won't repeat it here. Remember, Naruto is smart in this fic, not the smartest to ever live, but smart. I've started delving more into characters internal thoughts and feelings, this will only expand as time progresses and I focus more on central characters. Next chapter is where things pick up and everything changes. Thanks everyone for reading I'm sure you'll enjoy what is to come!

KajiyaSatoshi


	6. Minato Was Right

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 5: Minato Was Right

* * *

Amegakure, Pain's Tower

Nagato was tired. Tired but happy, finally after years of planning, years of hiding in the dark sewers, he had finally reached the top of Hanzo's tower and eliminated the source of his pain. The past few months had not made his life any easier. The aftermath of destroying a pillar of the shinobi world like Hanzo had been horrendous to clean up. He had finally won the populace of Amegakure over when he stopped the rain that constantly plagued them with his Rinnegan.

The Rinnegan, the strongest of all Doujutsu thought to be a myth even to him until he awoke with it one day and he learned he was destined to save this world. Jiraiya-sensei had told him so, but it had been a long and trying path. He had to destroy many lives along the way and would destroy many more, but such was the work of one destined to be God.

His plans had accelerated even faster than he had anticipated after Hanzo had been killed. Madara Uchiha, the one who had helped pave his path to godliness, had secured the location of the Ichibi and had it ready to capture far faster than Nagato thought possible, but then again Madara was a legend for good reason. The Ichibi didn't look like what he had thought; tales had called it a tanuki of the sands but the creature they had sealed was more like a leech. Madara insisted that it was the Ichibi however, and since he was the one to reveal the Gedo Mazo to him and teach him about the Bijuu, Nagato accepted the man's word.

There was suddenly the rumble of a great explosion and Nagato's only remaining childhood friend Konan burst into the room, "Nagato! Madara has betrayed us, he's destroying Amegakure!"

Nagato quickly focused his attention to his Deva path outside the tower, only to see Amegakure in flames amidst the rain. He could hear screams coming from all across the city, but could only see a dark purplish mass flowing through the streets like a river. He attempted to gather Akatsuki through his ring, but nothing happened. Then he felt the presence of several shinobi appear behind him.

"That won't be necessary Nagato," chuckled a voice behind him. When he turned around he saw not just Madara but all of Akatsuki gathered, "we are already here."

"Madara! Just what is the meaning of all of this? You were the one to create Akatsuki and gave it purpose, why destroy everything now?" Nagato implored the dark haired man who no longer wore a mask and had resumed wearing his traditional garb. _Why has he chosen to reveal himself now?_

"You are absolutely right, I did create Akatsuki, and I gave it purpose, but I did none of it to support your plans. Akatsuki's true purpose is to dominate the world and the greatest way to do that is with unlimited power," Madara replied.

"And that's what we were doing! We've already sealed the Ichibi…"

"No you have not, the creature that was sealed, and now joined with the Gedo Mazo is a creature far more powerful than any of the Bijuu could ever hope to be: The Reibi."

At this, the eyes of one of Akatsuki's most powerful members, Orochimaru widened. "The Reibi…" Any who had met Orochimaru before knew that he was nothing short of a genius and had worked through what Madara's meaning and intent was in just those few seconds.

"Yes, the Reibi, a creature that thrives on and is born of pain and all negative emotions. In return for giving it more power it will infuse me and all of my followers with unlimited amounts of Dark Chakra that will make us greater gods than you could ever hope to become."

"You are delusional within your own lies Madara, I have the Rinnegan, only I can control the Gedo Mazo. You told me this yourself, what do you intend to do, take my eyes from me, a god? I am the only one in the world with this power, you can't even hope to match it." Nagato responded, falling into his persona of Pain in an attempt to unnerve Madara.

"If you truly do have the Rinnegan then stop the Reibi from advancing, it is connected to the Gedo Mazo permanently now, surely you can control it," Madara scoffed.

Pain turned and activated the outer path that ruled the Gedo Mazo only to find his chakra being resisted. Suddenly his Deva Path couldn't see anything anymore, and in response, Nagato quickly summoned his other five paths to see what had happened. There his former Deva Path, the body of Yahiko laid sprawled out on the ground with its head separated and chakra receivers removed.

"You see _Pain_" Madara explained. "Your Rinnegan is nothing more than a borrowed copy of my own. Do not forget who taught you how to make those chakra receivers or who taught you how to manipulate dead bodies for your purposes. You are nothing without me, but unlike you, I am not a foolish god that wastes opportunities. I offer you, and all of Akatsuki this one chance: join me, follow me, and you will become stronger than you ever dreamt possible. I will give you the same gifts the Reibi gives me and we will dominate this world as gods."

Nagato took a moment to look at the other Akatsuki members. Orochimaru had disappeared; the man had probably done so shortly after he had figured out what was going on. Zetsu was sure to follow Madara, and it seemed that Deidara, Kisame, and Hidan had no quarrels with the chance to kill without restriction judging by the smiles on their faces. Kakuzu would go wherever the money was, which was likely with Madara, and Sasori would probably like to just continue experimenting on the countless victims that were sure to come.

He had lost this battle before it had even begun. Somehow Madara had cut off his Deva Path powers when he destroyed the body, it seemed that as his bodies fell, so would his powers. Against all of Akatsuki and Madara with only Konan to aid him, there was no chance of victory. But still, Nagato would not follow anyone else; he would use all of his remaining powers to destroy Akatsuki.

"There is only one god in this world Madara, and his name is Pain." He pulled his focus back into his chamber once his bodies began fighting and spoke to his only remaining friend. "Konan, I can't win this battle, I want you to take some chakra rods and the instructions on how to make them to Jiraiya-sensei in Konoha. Tell them all that you can, perhaps they can defeat Madara as they did so long ago."

"Please, Nagato…" she tried to get him to come with her.

"Konan please, we wanted to save this world from pain but Madara is going to make things worse than ever, Jiraiya-sensei is the only one who might know what to do, you have to tell him what is going on or they may die as well, please."

Konan was nearly crying, "Don't die on me Nagato, I will come back for you…I…love you."

"No Konan, it was Yahiko, it has always been Yahiko you loved, now go, I will buy you time."

Nagato, no…Pain had shattered Konan's heart, she formed the wings that had given her the nickname 'Tenshi' and took off for Konoha.

Back outside Madara had noticed Konan flying off and ordered "Deidara, kill her."

Deidara took off after Konan on his clay bird and as he approached her, launched his new clay arrow at her. It went straight through her heart, but she still kept flying. Before he could blow the arrow up he felt something grabbing his head. It was Pain's Naraka Path and it pulled away his soul before he could finish the job.

"Thank you, Konan" whispered Nagato as he felt the last of his Path's be destroyed by Kisame. He had managed to kill Deidara, Kakuzu, Sasori, and Zetsu before the 'Human Tailed Beast' and the simply un-killable Hidan had gotten the better of him. He prepared his final technique courtesy of Deidara as he felt Madara, Kisame, and Hidan approach.

"So here lies the fallen god, Pain. Actually, I like that name, Pain. I believe that's what I am going to call the Reibi now that it has a new form. Tell me, _Nagato_. Do you have any last words?"

Nagato smirked for the last time, "**Katsu!**" And Amegakure was engulfed in white light.

* * *

Konohagakure, The Next Day

Izumo and Kotetsu were standing guard at the main entrance to Konohagakure. They were Jounin now, but enjoyed gate duty so much they had been named Co-captains of the Gate Guard and now supervised all entry and exit everyone in Konoha. The past several months had been very quiet and calm, the weather was in a near perpetual state of "perfection", and there were no instances of any unauthorized entries or exits. Truly they were happy with their job, until Kotetsu noticed a fast approaching blur.

"Izumo, U.F.O. at eleven, dive bomb trajectory." He notified his long time friend.

"Roger, suppression and capture team three: engage target." Izumo responded into his microphone.

Four blurs jumped from their hidden positions and threw multiple wired kunai with tags spanning the length of the wires at the fast approaching blur. The blur attempted to dodge the strikes but several of the kunai had been thrown very wide for just this purpose. As the blur, now obviously a shinobi passed the beginning point of the wire trap, the shinobi team leapt forward in a spiral pattern while pulling on the wires while firing more kunai. When the unidentified shinobi attempted to change its trajectory, it ran into the tags that now were revealed to be the boundaries of a barrier. As the capture team moved forward they pulled the wires tight, capturing the unidentified shinobi into the barrier and locking it down with the kunai lodging themselves into the ground and surrounding trees. A perfect capture that both immobilized and suppressed the chakra of any foreign object within it's net.

"Kotetsu-taichou, capture number six hundred forty-eight complete, subject is safe to approach," the team leader replied.

"Good work, standby" Kotetsu replied.

"Man, those capture teams are efficient, who thought them up again?" Asked Izumo.

"It was that orphan from the Konoha Twelve, Tenten" Kotetsu answered.

_Where do those kids come up with those ideas?_ Idly wondered Izumo as they approached the target. Indeed the Konoha Twelve–as they had come to be called, were already revolutionizing Konoha in multiple ways. Many of the upper level shinobi were virtually fighting over them to get them to join their individual divisions.

They reached the suspended shinobi and Kotetsu began the questioning. "Unidentified shinobi, you are charged with attempted assault and entry of Konohagakure, unless you can explain yourself, you will be sent to interrogation and torture."

The shinobi lifted her head revealing a beautiful Kunoichi that was bleeding badly from a chest wound. "My name…Konan…Jiraiya-sensei…please" and she passed out.

"ROOT" summoned Izumo, instantly a team of ROOT members flashed in front of him. "Get this Kunoichi to the hospital, priority one assigned to Tsunade, she is to be kept on lockdown, only shinobi of clearance level 5 or higher are allowed to see her. Get Hokage-sama and find Jiraiya-sama, bring them both to her room, dismissed."

The ROOT members dispatched without a word, doing their duty without restraint. "Kotetsu, I'll go do the debriefing, eyes open, go to alert level 2 on wall security," Izumo instructed.

"Got it, good luck" Kotetsu responded. As Izumo disappeared, Kotetsu could only sigh in exasperation, "great, it seems like Hokage-sama was right to be paranoid after all. Today was so pretty too…"

* * *

Konoha Hospital, Fifteen minutes later

Minato stood next to Jiraiya as Tsunade approached them; her expression was a very frustrated one, which could only mean bad news. "Report Tsunade" he commanded.

"Hokage-sama, the patient had her heart pierced by some type of arrow over a day ago, she has apparently been flying ever since and the constant strain has caused internal bleeding throughout most of her body, she has an hour to live at most, there's nothing I can do. She identified herself as Konan and asked for Jiraiya calling him sensei," she explained.

"Wait, Konan? I thought they were all dead, I'm going in," Jiraiya said without waiting for Minato's orders. Minato and Tsunade simply followed as Jiraiya stood beside his former pupil, grasping her hand.

"Jiraiya-sensei," Konan smiled weakly.

"Konan, what is it, where have you been all this time, where are Nagato and Yahiko?" Jiraiya asked.

Konan began crying once more, "they're both dead sensei, Yahiko for a long time, and Nagato just yesterday."

Jiraiya now had a pained, but angry face, "Who?"

Konan had a coughing fit before she replied, "Madara Uchiha…"

"Madara is dead," said Tsunade.

"No, he's not, and he is stronger than he used to be, he has the Rinnegan and some kind of…weapon, he destroyed Amegakure in under a day. Nagato asked me to warn you before it was too late." Konan began coughing once more, blood continuously emitting forth with each cough.

"What did he want you to tell me?" Asked Jiraiya.

"To warn you that Madara wants to rule the world and is coming for everyone across all the nations. He also wanted me to give you what's in the scroll your guards took from me, it contains Nagato's chakra receivers and instructions on how to make more of them, they were the key to his power and he thought you could use them to help Konoha." With the next coughing fit came what were clearly chunks of lung tissue.

"Jiraiya, stop, she's going to die," pleaded Tsunade.

Konan just smiled, "it's ok, I'm already dead anyways. Just please, sensei, stop Madara before it's too late."

Jiraiya grimaced, he knew the face of someone who had accepted their death, it was all he could do to utter his last words to his former pupil, "we will, Konan, we will stop Madara at all costs and get revenge for you and Nagato and all that Madara has hurt."

"Thank you, sensei." Konan closed her eyes, and her grip went limp, they didn't need Tsunade to say it, Konan was dead.

"Minato, I hate it when you're right," Jiraiya said.

Before Minato could respond, a ROOT member opened the door to the room and rushed in, "Hokage-sama, there is another intruder asking to speak directly with you and the shinobi council, he offered himself up freely and is under multiple lockdown and suppression barriers."

Jiraiya didn't know if he could take much more stress at this rate, Minato had predicted something bad would happen, as if this wasn't enough of a shit storm, but now there was another unidentified intruder as well.

"Why is he not locked up in T&I? This is Ibiki's field" Minato asked.

"Sir, because the intruder is Orochimaru."

Jiraiya promptly slammed his head into the wall.

* * *

Shinobi Council Room, Ten Minutes Later

Minato stood once again before the Shinobi Council of Konoha. It had not taken long to assemble the council since alert level 2 automatically warned all council members to be on guard and prepare to be summoned. They had not yet however been briefed as to why they had been summoned, so as usual, the Uchiha clan head Fugaku Uchiha asked Minato "Hokage-sama, why have we all been summoned?"

Minato gathered his willpower as he spoke "today Konoha, after months of peace, has been intruded upon not once, but twice. The first intruder died of mortal wounds after revealing dire news to us, which will change a great deal about Konoha and the elemental nations. This information will be revealed to you all, however before that, the second intruder needs to be addressed and spoken to." The council did not look pleased at ignoring what seemed to be such important news and complaints were beginning to form.

"Hokage-sama," interjected Danzo Shimura, his advisor "perhaps you might tell us who the council who this intruder is, so that they will understand why he must be addressed first?"

"You are right Danzo-dono," Minato agreed. "The second intruder came to us freely and willingly, he is now under complete lockdown and chakra suppression, at any time we can kill him without difficulty. He has asked to speak to all of us directly. His name is Orochimaru."

The council chambers were dead silent as the doors opened to reveal a chained and tagged Orochimaru calmly walk in with Itachi Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake to either side, kunai held at vital arteries, waiting to strike at a single wrong twitch of muscle.

"Hokage-sama, esteemed council members." Orochimaru hissed as he bowed.

"Orochimaru, why have you come to us this day freely offering yourself up to us?" Minato asked. None in the council spoke a word, all wanting to know the same thing.

Orochimaru started calmly, "I have come for three reasons Hokage-sama. The first is to inform you all more about what your earlier visitor, Konan attempted to tell you. The second is to ask forgiveness and permission to rejoin Konoha."

"And just what the hell makes you think we would ever let you rejoin Konoha?" Tsume Inuzuka interrupted.

"Because I am the only one who knows what is coming to attack you all, and what it is capable of. All present in this room are well aware of my skills and knowledge, I am offering to give Konoha all of my knowledge and understanding of this new enemy while helping you to defeat it, all I want is forgiveness." Orochimaru replied. He had anticipated the responses he would receive and knew how the conversation would proceed from here.

"Then tell us Orochimaru, what is coming to attack us and what is it capable of?" his former sensei, Hiruzen Sarutobi, probably one of the only shinobi present who would listen to him earnestly asked.

"The enemy is Madara Uchiha." Orochimaru began.

"Madara Uchiha is dead, stop spinning lies you traitor!" Shouted Fugaku Uchiha.

"I'm afraid not, if you notice the look on the Hokage's face, he has obviously already heard this information from the first intruder."

Minato replied quickly before more questions could be asked, "Orochimaru is telling the truth, please, let him speak."

"Thank you Hokage-sama. As I was saying, Madara intends to dominate the entirety of the elemental nations and he is going to do it with his new weapon, the Reibi."

"What is the Reibi?" inquired Hiashi Hyuuga, who could not see any traces of lies on Orochimaru's face.

"The Reibi is just as it sounds, a zero-tailed Bijuu. Though in truth it is not one of the original nine Bijuu, its power is arguably greater. It feeds off of pain and all negative emotions and turns it into a substance called Dark Chakra, which is just as potent as demonic chakra, but leaves no negative side effects on the user. The downside is that once used, the user of Dark Chakra becomes dependent on the substance and must forever remain connected to the Reibi in order to survive."

"And how do you know so much about this Reibi?" asked Shikaku Nara.

"Years ago, I performed a great deal of research on the Reibi in an attempt to see if I could use its power, but abandoned the research as I have no desire to be dependent upon anything for life or strength. I had thought all of my research notes burned, but apparently Madara got ahold of them and has created exactly that which I theorized."

"Which is what, Orochimaru?" asked Minato.

"Madara has fused the Reibi with the Gedo Mazo, a statue that is in fact the original body of the fabled Juubi, it was originally intended to be used to seal the nine Bijuu back into it and recreate the Juubi, but Madara has instead fused it with the Reibi to give the Reibi a stable body as well as a way to control it. The Reibi seems to be able to make a form of dark purple substance and spread it forth like a Tsunami to destroy anything in its path. It was with this substance that Madara destroyed Amegakure in a few short hours; nothing was able to stop it. Unless Madara can be stopped and the Reibi destroyed, the entire world is doomed."

The council was silent, there were many questions that they wanted to ask, but none could seem to wrap their heads around the idea of such an enemy. Finally, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke up once more, "you said you had three reasons for coming here Orochimaru, what is the third reason?"

Orochimaru looked down before speaking, "the third reason I have returned Sarutobi-sensei, is because as much as it pains me to admit it, I am scared, this is an enemy I have no way to fight and I believe Konoha is the only nation that even has a chance at survival."

"How long do you think we have before we are attacked, Orochimaru?" asked Minato.

Orochimaru's face darkened, "I can't be sure, but no more than one week, tops."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey guys,

KajiyaSatoshi here, sorry for the long delay in uploading, I got a bit of writer's block in how I wanted to write this chapter, but I've got my creative juices flowing again and can finally get into the meat of this story.

A lot happened here obviously, and there's a lot to guess at. As far as Nagato dying, Madara basically cut off his powers but couldn't stop them if they were in use. Against most of Akatsuki and Madara I truly don't think Nagato could win, but he could take a bunch of them down with him first.

Some big changes are going to happen in Konoha and the entire elemental nations. Will they be ready for what's about to come? You'll just have to keep reading to find out! Thanks for all of you who've followed and favorited my story! Until next time!


	7. The Hammer Falls

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys,

KajiyaSatoshi here, sorry for the wait, but at last here is the chapter I've been waiting to write since the start of this fic and it's going to be a long one. As a forewarning, this chapter and the ones to follow it are darker than before. I've exaggerated some numbers here and there purely for plot purposes, and there are going to be a lot of deaths happening. Some things I do you may not be happy with, but that is the nature of this story as a tragedy: you aren't going to like everything that happens. Regardless, I hope you all continue to read and enjoy my story, special thanks to all who have favorited and reviewed my story so far, without further ado, here you go: Chapter 6 of Faith, Hope, and Love.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Hammer Falls

_Previously,_

_Orochimaru looked down before speaking, "the third reason I have returned Sarutobi-sensei, is because as much as it pains me to admit it, I am scared, this is an enemy I have no way to fight and I believe Konoha is the only nation that even has a chance at survival."_

_ "How long do you think we have before we are attacked, Orochimaru?" asked Minato._

_Orochimaru's face darkened, "I can't be sure, but no more than one week, tops."_

* * *

Three Days Later

"One week, tops. If only," muttered Minato. The past three days had been nothing but hell for the reigning Hokage. Three days of fortifying Konoha, three days of lockdown at level 1 threat status, three days of martial law. True enough, Minato's paranoia might turn out to be the thing that saved Konoha in the days to come; the fortifications that the village currently had prepared made Konoha ready to withstand an attack from three of the other Major ninja villages at full force for months. With all of the reserve supplies Konoha was prepared to withstand siege for a year straight without fear of starvation or death due to disease. But actually implementing full-scale war strategy without an official declaration? That was what currently made his life hell.

The thing about non-military personnel (i.e. civilians) was that they saw little worry in that which wasn't already affecting their daily lives. Some were intelligent enough to heed the word of their Hokage and his advisors, but to hope an entire village of over one million civilians would quietly follow when they were told they were put on full lockdown without a clear enemy to be named or known of? Anyone who had been in a leadership position knew better.

The first plague that Minato had to deal with was the civilian council. He had originally hoped to bring Orochimaru back into the village—albeit with extreme precautions—in the standard fashion of two-thirds majority vote in the grand council. However, regardless of his reasons for coming back, the civilian populaces still hated Orochimaru with a passion and were adamant to deny his re-entry and instead demand his immediate public execution. They nearly succeeded too; several members of the shinobi council weren't too keen on bringing Orochimaru back despite what he could offer them. The civilian council also denied Minato's initial request to bring Konoha to a level 1 threat status. One even dared call Minato too paranoid to continue as Hokage and moved for a no confidence measure. Minato however, made a hard decision and immediately beheaded said member. He then did what no Kage ever hopes to have to do: he declared martial law.

Martial law in Konoha meant several things. The first thing it meant was that both the shinobi and civilian councils would be disbanded. This normally can cause a sharp division within the ranks amongst ninja and clans not wanting to sacrifice their power, but luckily for Minato a scouting team to Amegakure had returned just in time to confirm its destruction. That had been more than enough for Minato to declare martial law, but even more so when the scouting team reported that Amegakure didn't even exist anymore—nothing but an oddly perfect hole in the ground—the dissenting factions of Konoha ninja had shut their mouths completely.

The second thing Martial law in Konoha meant was that all civilians were considered second-class citizens and reclassified as refugees of war. This allowed Minato to absorb all of their previous dwellings and resources as assets of the village. Uprisings had happened in protest, but they were quickly shut down by the Uchiha police force, which had been given complete authority in dealing with refugees—something that had made the Uchiha very happy.

The third thing Martial law meant was the dispersal of all currently assigned teams and immediate promotions for those considered worthy without requirement of validation. This had led to all of the Konoha twelve—the poster group for the Konoha Initiative—to immediate promotion of Special Jounin and Chuunin levels. Their skills and time-spent training had proven to exceed all expectations and they were already considered a special operations division. Their Jounin sensei had unanimously recommended their immediate promotions stating they regrettably had little left to teach their students directly. Only a few of the members, his son included, were not put at the Special Jounin status, and that was only due to specific circumstances such as lack of diversified skill sets.

Ultimately everything had gone the way Minato had wanted it to and Konoha was on full alert. This was best because scouting teams from ROOT had sent reports that a large force was headed towards Konoha at a rapid pace and would arrive the next day. Minato had been in war councils ever since that moment with only a few hours sleep that amounted to little more than catnaps.

Minato was in such a war council at this very moment. Across from him stood Shikaku Nara, the appointed Head of Strategy. To Shikaku's right stood Tsunade and Orochimaru, appointed Head of Medicine and Head of Science respectively. To his left was Jiraiya, Head of Reconnaissance and Kakashi Hatake, Vanguard Captain. With Minato stood his advisors Hiruzen and Danzo. All were in full battle garb and even Danzo had shed his fake bandages to reveal his body in perfect condition with a stolen eye of Shisui Uchiha, a young ninja who had been accidentally killed by Itachi Uchiha in a training exercise. The Uchiha had initially been in an uproar about the stolen eye, but had been quieted when Itachi revealed that by the same circumstance he had gained the Mangekyo Sharingan making him the most powerful, non-exiled Uchiha alive. Itachi would have been in this war council as Defense Captain as well, had he not been making rounds along the perimeter to ensure all troops were in place.

"Jiraiya, what do your scouts report about the approaching force?" Minato began.

"Hokage-sama, the status currently stands as previously indicated. There is a team out now and they should have an update for us soon." Jiraiya replied. "At the moment, we believe over twenty thousand soldiers are in the approaching force, but numbers are hard to judge with the speed the force moves. Additionally, there are no distinguishable traits we can determine between members of the force, they are moving as a singular unit at rapid pace. Estimated skill level is Chuunin and Jounin but reports are not conclusive."

"We can't afford to estimate low here," Minato replied. "Shikaku, how long can our primary defenses hold against a force of twenty thousand Jounin?"

"Hokage-sama, at optimal efficiency we can anticipate the primary defense system to hold for roughly ten hours against a force of that size, after which I would anticipate a breach in multiple sectors of smaller forces." Shikaku answered. As he finished speaking Itachi Uchiha entered the room and stood next to Kakashi.

"Itachi, good timing," greeted Minato. "Report on the status of defense. Additionally, if the primary defenses are breached, estimate what the anticipated holding time of the secondary and tertiary defense positions?"

"Hokage-sama, all defense stations report at 100% operational status. If the primary defense system is breached, the enemy will fall into the primary trap field before entering the second line of defense. The second defense line is capable of holding off a force of ten thousand Jounin for about twenty hours. The secondary trap field would then be reached followed by the tertiary line which can hold off a thousand Jounin for about five hours." Itachi reported.

"Shikaku, run the numbers." Minato ordered.

"Hokage-sama, if the enemy force is indeed twenty thousand Jounin strong, we should be able to destroy them all before breaching the secondary defense line with a counter attack." Shikaku answered.

Minato sighed, "very well, I want squads thirty-three and forty-nine to…"

"Hokage-sama! I apologize for the interruption, the report of the scouting party has just come in!" Shouted a Chuunin.

"Jiraiya, what's the report?" Minato asked.

Jiraiya's face grew darker and darker as he read the report before him. "Hokage-sama, the estimated enemy numbers are now over fifty thousand strong. They are moving more rapidly than before, they will be here by nightfall."

Minato had a strong desire to string several curses at whatever force gained pleasure at screwing with him. "Send all shinobi to their posts, as of this moment, Konoha is at war."

* * *

Main Wall of Konoha, One Hour Later

Izumo and Kotetsu stood at the tower constructed on top of Konoha's Main Gate. They looked out and saw dark clouds moving in quickly. Thunder was rumbling almost constantly.

"I'll bet you a thousand ryo that's the enemy's doing" Kotetsu said.

"I'm not even going to consider that bet, the thunder itself is like a drum march." Izumo replied.

"Do you think we're ready for this?"

"Who knows? We've no real idea what's coming for us do we?" Izumo looked out, one hundred meters before them; the forest that traditionally hid Konoha had been razed and filled with all manner of traps. Against a normal shinobi force the defense would be a formidable deterrent, but all of the ninja were well aware that they weren't going to be facing a normal enemy.

"What do you think they'll call this war? The Fourth Shinobi World War?" Kotetsu asked.

"Maybe, then again, if the reports are to believed, we're not really fighting shinobi anymore, the scouting teams just call the approaching enemy: monsters."

All across Konoha the clans were giving speeches to their clansmen preparing for what was likely going to be the greatest battle in Konoha's history.

* * *

Uchiha Clan Compound

Fugaku Uchiha stood before his clan, the clan he believed to be strongest in all of Konoha. The clan elders, his wife, and two sons stood with him. "My clansmen, the Uchiha have been granted power under the reign of this Fourth Hokage, but it is not enough. We are destined for even more power and greatness now that the Senju have fallen. We will prove the might of the Uchiha in this battle and remind the entire shinobi world why the Uchiha were once the most feared of all ninja clans!"

His clansmen erupted in cheers, Fugaku had seen their power growing steadily and he was ready to capitalize on it. Let the Hokage run Konoha as he wished for now, after this war, the Uchiha would be left stronger than any other clan and be in prime position to take hold of Konoha. Itachi had proven himself stronger than any Uchiha in generations, he would certainly become Hokage one day and then the Uchiha would finally attain their rightful place.

Itachi himself while appearing stoic was eyeing his father carefully. He knew what his father secretly wanted for the Uchiha clan and had to keep an eye on him. Itachi would not let anyone harm Konoha, even if it meant killing his own family to do so.

Sasuke was standing with a smirk on his face. His power had grown rapidly under Kakashi until the man had little more to teach him. With the famous **Chidori** now in his arsenal and countless other techniques, Sasuke was sure that he would prove his strength to his father in this battle and finally would stop being compared to his brother.

* * *

Hyuuga Clan Compound

Hiashi stood proudly in front of his clan, they were the epitome of what ninja should be: strong, silent, and all seeing. His adopted son Neji, the heir of the clan had achieved complete mastery of his Byakugan and Jyuuken and was constantly working to improve his skills farther, the pride of the Hyuuga indeed. His daughter Hinata was a disgrace to the clan for bastardizing their style, but even Hiashi knew that her newfound skills were genuine enough to be treated with caution.

"Hyuuga, the name of one of Konoha's four noble clans. We have eternally been one of the pillars of Konoha's strength, respected by all. But we have also been shadowed, and overlooked because of the Uchiha clan. The golden boys of Konoha believe they are deserving of the highest position in Konoha because of their Sharingan. But they are charlatans; their power does not come from themselves, but from what they steal from others. Our strength is our own, forged and tempered and proven by time. Our numbers are greater, our house united. We are the true vanguard of Konoha and we will now show it. We will utilize our skills to greater effect than any Uchiha in this coming battle and we will show them why the Hyuuga are the greatest of all clans in Konoha. Go forth now my brothers, my sisters, and my clansmen. Lead the Hyuuga to the greatness we are destined for and rightfully deserve!"

Unlike the Uchiha, no Hyuuga made a sound beyond clapping, they were more civilized than that, but the fire in their eyes was evident. The Hyuuga would prove themselves the greater clan and after this battle, none would dispute their power ever again.

* * *

Hokage Monument

For the first time in years, Konoha's legendary Sannin stood together atop the Hokage Mountain, preparing for their first fight as a team, unified.

"Orochimaru," began Jiraiya. "You may not enjoy being in Konoha, but I'm glad you came back. I know you're not happy with Minato being Hokage, but we need you."

"As many issues as I have with you Orochimaru, I have to agree with the pervert here" agreed Tsunade.

"Don't think me a fool, I know where you and Konoha stands regarding me," Orochimaru replied. "But let me assure you, I no longer desire to be Hokage, the job is too tedious. I am here for my own sake, but I will say this: you two are the only ones who have ever been able to keep up with me in a fight."

No more was spoken because nothing more was needed to be said. These three were one of the longest standing and strongest teams in Konoha's history. They knew what needed to be done, and they would do it, as the Densetsu no Sannin.

* * *

Namikaze Clan Compound

Minato embraced his son and wife. "Naruto, this will be your first war, and I hope your last. You know what you are supposed to do and I have faith in you son. You will be vital to Konoha's success this day."

"I know Dad," Naruto replied. This is what I've been training for and I won't let you or Konoha down, believe it."

"Naruto, please, be careful, you shouldn't want to fight." Kushina said with tears in her eyes. She didn't like that her little boy was so ready to give his live so young. Ninja or not, he was her baby and the thought of losing him tore her apart.

"Kushina, he's ready for this, he has been for a long time." Minato argued.

"Don't worry mom, I can do this." Naruto agreed.

Kushina cried for a while more, but eventually steeled herself. She too was a ninja and had her own part to play, and she would do so to save her son.

* * *

Nightfall, Main Wall of Konoha

The walls of Konoha stood lined with shinobi as the rain began to fall in torrents. There were lights focusing down on the hundred-meter no-man's-land to give them focus and disorient their own positions. The whole of Konoha was ready to face whatever was about to hit them.

Ko Hyuuga was the first to look forward with his Byakugan. "Enemy sighted, they are approaching the border and slowing down just beyond the tree line. A single shinobi with extremely high chakra reserves is coming forward."

"A peace envoy huh? Well, let's see what he has to say." Izumo said. "Focus a light on their position."

The spotlight focused on a tall shinobi with spikey hair wearing a black cloak and red clothes. The Konoha shinobi knew who this man was by the blue skin and giant wrapped sword on his back. It was Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

"Konoha Shinobi, I greet you as Kisame Hoshigaki, First General of Our Great Leader Madara Uchiha, and commander of this army behind me. I have come with an offer of peace from our Great Leader. Join with us and you will be welcomed into our ranks with no casualties. Resist us and you will all perish."

"Well, I've never heard those terms before," sarcastically muttered Kotetsu.

"Shush," Izumo told Kotetsu and then addressed Kisame "Konoha denies your oh so 'generous' offer Kisame, Konoha will bow to no man or army, bring forth your army and prepare for your death." The Hokage had been clear, there was no negotiation to be had against this invading force.

"Your head," shrugged Kisame as he turned and turned back to the forest. He then snapped his fingers and the battle that would forever change Konoha began.

To call the attacking force an army from that point onwards would be a poor use of words. It was more like a tidal wave of purplish bodies that ran forward without regard for their own safety. As Izumo looked closely he could see identical white masks on each of their faces that was the only feature dissimilar to their slug-like bodies with arms and legs. He watched as they continuously ran forward even as the traps were sprung over their own dead.

"Kunai open fire!" Izumo commanded as thousands of kunai were fired from the wall. The Kunai seemed to do little to slow the rapidly advancing force however. Only direct hits on the masks seemed to down the creatures.

"Sir they're almost at the walls, twenty meters to go." Reported Ko Hyuuga.

"Hold" Izumo commanded.

"Ten meters."

"Hold."

"Five meters."

"Hold."

"Sir, one meter!"

"Blow them to hell!" Izumo shouted.

The entire hundred-meter field in front of them was suddenly engulfed in the fire of hundreds of thousands of exploding tags hidden underground. The creatures were completely lit on fire before falling twenty meters into a spiked pit. The battlefield fell silent.

"Ko, report." Izumo commanded.

"Sir!" Ko replied. "It appears all tags detonated perfectly, no enemy passed the pit. There appears to be no move…wait…sir, it appears the enemy is scaling the walls!"

"What are you talking about? The walls are designed to repel chakra, how can they climb them?"

"Sir, they seem to be…" Ko was suddenly tackled by one of the leaping creatures. Before he had even fallen to the floor, the creature had ripped open his neck with teeth that had been hidden under the mask beforehand. The creature immediately jumped to another shinobi and bit into his arm before ripping it off.

"All units break formation, destroy at all costs!" Izumo ordered.

From that moment forward the battle on the main wall became hell. The enemy creatures were moving forward as fast as Jounin could move. Any damage done to them was nearly instantly repaired unless you destroyed their masks. The creatures seemed to have no sense of self-preservation and were killing at least ten shinobi for every one of them. The outer walls were covered with the creatures trying to climb up for their chance at a Konoha shinobi. The primary wall was going to fall less than five minutes into the battle.

"Kotetsu, cover me!" Izumo knew he had to update the inner forces what to expect. He changed the communication channel in his microphone and relayed his message. "This is Izumo at the front gate, we are overrun, inner defenses are advised to…" One of the creatures had bitten down and ripped off Izumo's head before he could finish his message. His body fell down next to Kotetsu's corpse that seemed to have its chest ripped open. The first wall of Konoha's defense had fallen. The enemy hadn't even been slowed down. The wall was now coated in the blood of the fallen shinobi.

* * *

Barrier Observation Room

"Inoichi, what is the status of the primary wall?" Asked a wide-eyed Minato. This shouldn't be happening, the wall should've held for far longer than it had, what exactly was this enemy?

"Sir, primary wall reports have ceased, reports indicate that the primary defenses have been overrun in their entirety. From what we can observe the enemy automatically recovers from any injury except for damage to the mask on their heads." Reported Inoichi while hooked up to the barrier observation sphere.

"Advise all units in defense perimeter two, aim for kill shots to the head, destroy the masks at all costs. Tell the counter attack teams to prepare for battle." Minato ordered, Orochimaru had been right, this was a force they were not prepared for, but Minato would not let Konoha fall so easily.

* * *

Second Defense Line

Itachi and Kakashi were directly in charge of the second line of defense. They had received the orders of the Hokage. They had exchanged a look of worry when they had heard the first line had fallen so easily. But while the wall had been the structurally strongest defense of Konoha, the second line was the strategically strongest. Built amongst the ninja clan compounds, the bulk of Konoha's ninja force laid in multiple sniping positions. The streets had been blocked off and paved to create a maze forcing the enemy to bottleneck with several towers built to provide easy sight for the defending ninja. It was in this portion of Konoha that the majority of the clans of Konoha had their members ready to unleash hell on the enemy, each area restructured to fit their clan styles of fighting. Konoha would make its stand here and wipe out all enemy resistance. The second wall _would_ hold.

Itachi saw the wave of enemies approaching, moving quickly through the field of traps with far more difficulty than before. Itachi had designed most of the traps to be shrapnel based off exploding tags and it was very effective in destroying the enemies masks, but the enemies numbers were still great and they needed more time to inform the clans of how to kill the creatures. "Kakashi-senpai let me show you why the Uchiha clan's Mangekyo Sharingan is so feared." Itachi's eyes then morphed to show his Mangekyo Sharingan and he molded a massive amount of chakra. "Amaterasu."

Across the edge of the second trap field a giant wave of black flames emerged over ten meters high. Itachi fell to one knee grabbing his right eye, which was now bleeding heavily.

"The fabled Amaterasu" mused Kakashi while motioning a medical ninja to look at Itachi. "The legendary black flames that will burn for seven days and seven nights that cannot be doused. Are you sure they will work?"

"Use the Sharingan my cousin gave you and see for yourself" Itachi responded.

Kakashi revealed his Sharingan and he could clearly see just how effective the flames were. The enemy was able to jump through the wall of flames easily enough, but as they did the flames took hold and were burning their bodies rapidly, destroying all traces of their forms, except for the masks.

"They can't recover from their wounds if there's no body to recover," Itachi said.

"You truly are a ninja to be feared Itachi." Kakashi praised his fellow Captain. Truly it was fortunate that Itachi was so loyal to Konoha, Kakashi could only imagine the destruction Itachi could cause if he were Konoha's enemy.

* * *

Main Wall of Konoha

Kisame stood on top of Konoha's main wall and looked out at the wall of flames before him and whistled in surprise. "Well, that's impressive. Still, everything has gone exactly like Madara said it would, the shock and awe part is over, and they respect our strength. Now the Konoha shinobi will learn to fear our power."

* * *

Second Defense Line

"Sir, all clans have received their orders and are prepared for battle." Reported a Chuunin to Kakashi.

"Good, Itachi let the flames go before you lose that eye. Let's see how good the enemy is against the clans on their own turf." Kakashi replied.

Itachi let the flames die down and sat back to have the medical ninja work on his eye. They wouldn't be able to completely heal the damage done to his eye, but with the technique Tsunade had devised, he wouldn't go blind so quickly.

* * *

Inuzuka Sector

The Inuzuka clan was closest to the invading creatures. They had always been on the frontlines of every battle Konoha had fought in and were glad to do so once more. As the enemy began running down the starburst pattern they had patterned the streets in. Tsume initiated the fight, "tear em apart!"

From every end of the starburst pattern a shout of '**Gatsuuga**!" was heard and tornadoes of Inuzuka with their partners charged forward ripping apart the bodies of the advancing creatures. The straight, wide streets sectioned off made their attacks easy to perform, the enemy would suffer massive casualties before they made any kind of progress in this part of Konoha.

* * *

Uchiha Sector

"One shot one kill, fire!" Ordered Fugaku as a wave of kunai was launched from multiple positions throughout the streets of the Uchiha sector. The Uchiha's Sharingan made their accuracy near perfect and the enemy fell in droves, not able to make any kind of progress before their masks were shattered by the raining attacks.

Fugaku smirked; the Uchiha would come out of this battle unscathed and with the highest number of kills for sure, the Uchiha would have no trouble dealing with these creatures.

* * *

Akimichi Sector

The Akimichi were having just as easy of a time with the enemy as the Inuzuka if not easier, the wide open straight streets were perfect for their **Human Boulder** technique and the enemy was quickly squashed and their masks broken by the giant spinning masses before them.

* * *

Hyuuga Sector

The Hyuuga were having just as easy of a time as the Uchiha, albeit with somewhat more risk to their members. Their Byakugan was almost unnecessary as they simply struck high-powered Jyuuken strikes to the masks of the creatures. The enemy couldn't even advance into the Hyuuga controlled sector due to the ranks of Hyuuga holding off each entry point.

* * *

Barrier Observation Room

"Hokage-sama, the clans are successfully holding the enemy off. Reports of friendly casualties are minimal. The enemy is being held back."

"Fantastic," Minato smiled, something was going right for once. "Activate the counter attack teams, I will join the battle directly, let's show them why Konoha is not to be messed with!" Minato flashed away with his **Hiraishin** and entered the battle to change the tide in Konoha's favor.

* * *

Primary Trap Field

All across the primary trap field several doors opened from the ground to reveal the best Konoha had to offer. They were ready for blood; they were ready to repay the enemy for every Konoha shinobi killed tenfold. The Will of Fire shone brightest in these shinobi and they would defend Konoha with all of their might.

* * *

Densetsu no Sannin

"**Bring Down the House**!" Jiraiya yelled as his giant toad flattened a large number of the creatures. The toad quickly dispersed having fulfilled its task. "Tsunade!"

"Get the fuck out of my home!" Shouted Tsunade as she punched the earth creating a massive crater and knocking several of the creatures into the air with the shockwave.

"**Sen 'ei Tajashu**!" Yelled Orochimaru as his snakes flew forward crashing through the masks of the disabled creatures. In mere seconds the Sannin had destroyed over five hundred of the creatures and they were just getting started. The Densetsu no Sanin were back and their legendary status was well earned.

* * *

Fourth Hokage

Minato didn't even have to call the name of his technique as he used the countless **Hiraishin** tags to teleport all across the battlefield, piercing every mask with his trademark kunai. He appeared, killed, and disappeared before the creatures could even acknowledge his presence. His death toll was already over one thousand and he showed no signs of slowing down.

* * *

Hiruzen and Danzo

"**Fire Dragon Flame Bullet**!" Shouted Hiruzen Sarutobi, firing a mixture of both fire and earth release techniques in the fashion of his moniker 'God of Shinobi'.

"**Kamikaze Shuriken**!" Yelled Danzo Shimura in turn showing off his prowess with wind nature jutsu, combining his technique with Hiruzen.

"**Dragon Inferno Flame Blast**!" The two shouted in unison, their respective techniques making each other stronger creating a pure wave of cutting flame destroying hundreds of the creatures.

"It's good to be fighting alongside you once more my old friend," Hiruzen said to Danzo.

"Likewise Hiruzen, these kids don't know what war is," smirked Danzo in reply.

"Then let's show them what two old men that have seen three world wars can do!" Hiruzen shouted.

That day the former Third Hokage and the Yami of Shinobi reminded the world why they were respected and feared across the elemental nations.

* * *

Barrier Observation Room

"Sir, all fronts are doing well, the enemy is being pushed back. Counter attack force is reporting low chakra reserves. Enemy numbers are down to a few thousand."

"Tell the counter attack force to draw back for now. Send in the Konoha Twelve, this should be sufficient for them to handle the rest." Shikaku replied.

The order was given and Minato appeared back in the room looking rather exhausted.

"Just how many times did you use the **Hiraishin** Hokage-sama?" Shikaku asked.

"Lost count after five thousand, what's the status?" Minato panted.

"Counter attack successful, enemy forces are down to a few thousand, the Konoha Twelve are being sent in to mop up." Shikaku replied.

"Are you sure they're ready for this?" Minato asked, his mind was foggy in his tired state and was worried for what his son would have to face.

"Do not worry sir, all of the Konoha Twelve are more than prepared for this, your son even more so; they will get the job done." Shikaku responded, while nervous as well, he knew just how strong the Twelve were and knew they were ready to handle what they were about to face.

"Very well, send them out." Minato said as he fell asleep.

* * *

Second Defense Line

Behind the now dwindled enemy lines, four more gates opened up from the ground. Out of them jumped the Konoha Twelve. They had passed every test presented to them with flying colors, now they were ready to prove their worth to Konoha and show what their training had wrought.

* * *

Team Eight

"**Kaiten**!" Neji shouted as Team Eight leapt out of their entry point. A clear twenty-meter circle was made launching the enemy back to give them room to set up their attack. "Chouji go!" He ordered.

"**Human Boulder**!" Yelled Chouji as his body expanded and morphed into a spinning ball that launched forward trampling all enemies in his path.

"Neji on your right!" Warned Ino as one of the creatures tried to attack Neji. The creature was quickly destroyed as Neji simply threw one arm holding two fingers, not even needing to use a full powered strike to destroy the creature's mask.

Ino stayed a small distance behind Neji covering his one weak spot—a secret he only revealed to Chouji and herself—while throwing the creatures into each other with puppet strings. One of the creatures escaped being caught by the strings and attempted to rush Ino, only for its mask to be shattered by a Kunai she flung by twitching her hand. The kunai was fixed to her third chakra string and was a feat that she had only recently developed. Controlling more than two independent objects with chakra strings was a difficult task, and it was a skill she was very proud to have as a trump card in the event her normal defenses failed.

Team Eight had proven to be very intelligently designed. Chouji was the muscle of the group nearly untouchable in his Human Boulder form, while Neji was able to provide perfect defense for Ino as she manipulated the creatures.

* * *

Team Ten

A shout of "**Gatsuuga**!" was heard as two spinning tornadoes came out of the hole Team Ten was in as Kiba and his partner Akamaru made quick work of any creature unlucky enough to come close to them.

"**Sen 'ei Jashu**!" Yelled Hinata while jumping out of the hole, releasing several snakes to strike at the masks of the creatures not destroyed by Kiba and Akamaru.

Conspicuously absent was the second coming of Konoha's Green Beast Lee, but when twenty of the creature's masks suddenly exploded, he could be seen standing in the strong fist position; his speed so great that his exit from the hole had been nothing but a blur. After a quick breath he took off once more destroying the creatures masks before they even saw him.

Team Ten had been designed to be a tracking team, but also an assassination team. They had devised many methods to take out any type of enemy—mostly derived by Hinata's newfound 'sadistic' mentality—and moved as a single killing unit without so much as a word. Such was expected of their team make up, and they did not disappoint.

* * *

Team Seven

Team Seven simply exploded out of their hole, each firing off their own techniques.

Sakura firing off multiple kunai and shuriken attached to ninja wire. Occasionally an exploding tag would go off in patterns, herding the enemy in her desired direction.

Sasuke was firing off countless fireballs with shuriken in them while throwing more kunai, using his Sharingan to make each strike hit home. Every strike was a perfect hit, and as he landed no enemy could come within ten meters of his position.

Naruto had a much more simple, but brutal method. Using the power of the Kyuubi, he had accessed one tail worth of power and was using the arms and tail of his chakra cloak to rip, shred, crush, and incinerate any creature he could get his hands on.

Team Seven didn't utter a single word to each other the entire time. They had the worst teamwork of all the Konoha Twelve despite Kakashi's attempts to improve it, but would still work to kill as many of the enemy as possible. Despite their lack of communication, the three of them seemed to naturally excel at fighting together and never came close to getting in each other's way.

* * *

Team Nine

Several flares shot out of the hole that Team Nine was hidden in, as they reached their peak, parachutes opened, prolonging the time they were in the air.

"Shadow possession, successful," said Shikamaru as the creatures suddenly found they were unable to move, distracted by the flares.

"**Twin Rising Dragons**!" Shouted Tenten as she leapt out of the hole with two scrolls unfurling releasing hundreds of various weapons upon the immobilized creatures, destroying them without so much as a struggle. The parachuted-flares were an idea of Tenten's to give Shikamaru a way to use his skills even in complete darkness with some room for error. The effectiveness of the technique was obviously working exactly as expected.

A horde of insects emerged from the hole making a cloud of darkness nearly equal to the storm clouds above as Shino unleashed his colonies towards the creatures.

Team Nine had proven that they were not only the most intelligent team of the Konoha Twelve, but also one of the most effective even on the frontlines. They learned to use their intelligence to maximize their skills and make it so that they were able to face large numbers of opponents with just as much, if not more effectiveness than the heavy hitting teams.

"Shikamaru," Shino said, with a slight hint of worry in his voice. "We might have a problem."

* * *

Main Wall of Konoha

At that moment, Kisame's already large smirk grew even wider as he snapped his fingers once more. "And now, the fun really begins."

* * *

Second Defense Line

All across the Konoha, the creatures suddenly shifted their formations and split up. Instead of operating as a single horde, they moved more like individuals and began targeting individual ninja. The formations that previously had held the creatures at bay suddenly lost their effectiveness as the creatures changed tactics, they were no longer just killing, they were maiming and the Konoha ninja could only watch in horror as the creatures would tear limbs off of their friends and families before moving on, leaving the ninja in agonizing pain.

* * *

Barrier Observation Room

"What the hell is going on?" Shikaku asked, taking over command to let the Hokage rest and recover from what was surely chakra exhaustion. Not many knew just how much chakra the Hiraishin technique used, but Shikaku had been made privy of such delicate knowledge in the event the Hokage over-exerted himself.

"Sir, the enemy has changed formation. They are now operating on what seems to be a maiming tactic before moving on to other targets. Several have broken into the underground tunnels and are headed directly for the location of the refugees."

"Get the civilian protectors ready, what is the status of the Twelve?"

"Not good Sir…"

* * *

Team Eight

The creatures Team Eight had so flawlessly been destroying stopped moving as a horde and began attacking each of the team members individually.

Neji found that he was immobilized despite not suffering any injuries the creatures had managed to surround him attacking him in turn, but fast enough that he could do nothing but take them out one at a time. In the field of vision his Byakugan granted him, he could see Ino still behind him, but likewise unable to move from her current position. Their position of defense had turned into just that. They were now moving at the enemy's pace instead of their own.

As Chouji kept charging forward, a large number of the creatures gathered together and turned themselves into a giant living wall. Even as he crushed several of them, they proved strong enough to slow him down and stop his technique. He quickly dispelled his technique and switched to his Partial Body Expansion technique in an attempt to throw them off. He didn't have the Byakugan however and couldn't see the creature sneaking up on him from behind.

Ino however did see the creature and seeing it moving too fast for her attacks to reach it, she resorted to her clan's signature technique hoping it would reach the creature in time to stop its advance "**Shintenshin**!"

The technique did reach in time but as she entered the creature's mind she found herself staring at a massive version of the creatures they had been fighting. It's body was oozing the purple material the creatures were made of and she could see more and more of the creatures being born from the ooze that fell off of the main creature.

"I can see your pain, child." The monstrous creature said to her.

"Wh…what the he…hell are you?" Ino stuttered, the creature was impossibly large and the emotions coming off of it were pressuring her more than any mind she had entered before.

"I am the one who can take all of your tears away, I am Pain. Join with me, fight for me and you will never suffer again." It replied.

"Why the hell would I join you?" She yelled in protest.

"You are a mind-wraith, your kind always feel pain more strongly than any other, I can take that away from you. No longer will you have to feel pain, no more will you have nightmares, and you will come to know peace."

"You're insane! You've killed my comrades! You want to destroy Konoha, there's no way I'd ever join something like you!" She denied. join the very enemy they were fighting? She had read all about insanity and this creature was breathing it.

"Then you will know more pain and experience worse nightmares than you could ever imagine. Never will you be safe from them, even as you wake until you join with me." It roared at her, irritated that this tiny girl refused the offer so many had accepted already.

"I will never join you!" Ino stated, a true loyal shinobi of Konoha to the very end.

"Oh you will join with me, you all will. Sooner or later you will all join with me. When the pain becomes too much, and the nightmares too terrifying, you will join with me. You will beg for it like all of the others."

The mind transfer jutsu ended and Ino awoke only to begin screaming as images flooded her mind, showing her images of pain that she had never thought possible.

Neji could only watch with his Byakugan as the creatures descend upon Chouji from all sides, his jutsu having no effect whatsoever. His eyes widened in horror as the creatures ripped each of Chouji's limbs off one by one before they finally ripped off his head, leaving him in pieces. He heard Ino's screams and saw her immobilized on the ground. Realizing that he couldn't keep fighting, he used one last Kaiten and grabbed Ino; jumping into the hole they had come out of so triumphantly. Now what was left of Team Eight was retreating from an utter defeat.

* * *

Team Nine

Shikamaru didn't like hearing those words from Shino. It wasn't so much the words as the hint of worry. Shino was better than most Aburame at hiding his emotions, and he rarely broke his stoic mask even slightly. For him to sound worried meant that Shino realized something that was truly dire. "What is it?"

"My Kikaichu have no effect on these creatures, they're dying upon contact with the creatures. It seems that most of my hives are already dead." Shino replied.

"Troublesome" was all Shikamaru said. Before he had time to think about the next move for his team, one of the creatures he hadn't captured with his Shadow Possession had bitten onto Shino and threw him back into a waiting mass of the creatures. The Aburame didn't stand a chance as his body disappeared.

"Shino!" Tenten yelled as she saw the Aburame thrown to be devoured.

"Shit," Shikamaru said, this had not been in his plans. Tenten, clear a path. We need to retreat now!"

Tenten summoned a massive broadsword that would make the infamous Zabuza Momochi proud and slashed wildly at the creatures as she ran with Shikamaru back into the hole they had emerged from. In their panic, neither had noticed that every single creature Tenten had struck, even the one's not hit in the mask, dissolved until only their masks remained.

* * *

Team Ten

Team Ten had quickly adapted to the change in tactics of their enemy and was continuing to make quick work of the creatures. Now Hinata was primarily using her Byakugan to tell Kiba and Lee where to strike while her snakes protected her. "Lee, to your left! Kiba, behind you!"

Lee had no problems striking at any creature that tried to attack him, his reflexes far above normal thanks to his intense Taijutsu training.

Kiba's reflexes were also enough to keep him safe, but as he finished his most recent Gatsuuga, he cried out in horror as Akamaru was bitten in half by one of the creatures that had feigned death. In his panic he didn't have time to react as three of the creatures bit into his legs and right arm. He could only scream in agony as they ripped him apart like so many other shinobi that day.

Hinata had frozen in shock, unable to believe what had just happened. Kiba had been a powerful source of encouragement for the Hyuuga, still suffering from some self-esteem issues. The battle faded away as she fell to her knees, and wept for the boy.

Lee had also seen the death and looked at his shaking hands in confusion. For all of his strength and speed, it hadn't been enough to protect his teammates who had accepted him in all of his youthfulness. As his whole body began to shake he recalled the words that Guy-sensei, his adopted father had told him years before.

* * *

_Flashback_

_ "__**Konoha Senpuu**__!" Lee yelled as he destroyed yet another training post, performing the move to perfection._

_ "Excellent Lee!" Shouted Guy, truly the man had brought Lee to greatness and loved the boy with all of his heart. Lee could no longer imagine his life without the 'youthful' man that had saved him from loneliness. "Now, listen carefully. There are rare times in battle where you will lose control of your body. When that happens I want you to stop thinking and stay as still as possible, focus your mind, and calm yourself down. Then you will see the battle with the eyes of a true warrior."_

_ "Hai, Guy-sensei!" Shouted Lee in response._

_ "Good, now do a thousand pushups, and if you cannot do that then you will run around Konoha on your hands for three days! And if you cannot do that…_

_Flashback End_

* * *

Lee did as he had been instructed and commanded his well-trained body to stay still as he took a deep breath. He felt his the shaking of his body stop as he held himself in a moment of complete stillness and silence. In that moment, he suddenly felt a rush of power greater than any before and moved faster than if he had opened one of the Eight Gates, moving through the creatures like a hurricane. The scratches the creatures had managed to afflict him with rapidly healed as a purplish liquid was forced out of his body. He quickly grabbed the frozen Hinata and jumped back into the hole, also not noticing that every creature he had come in contact with had frozen still as statues.

* * *

Team Seven

Team Seven was no longer faring so well against the creatures. Not because their attacks were less effective—they were actually becoming more effective—but because the creatures change in strategy made it harder for them to avoid one another. Already both Sakura and Sasuke had received light chakra burns from getting too close to one of Naruto's limbs. This of course was only making Naruto more frustrated and thus sloppier in his moves.

"Naruto would you stop attacking so close to me? I've got this area handled!" yelled Sasuke, firing off another fireball.

"I. Am. Not. Trying to attack near you, these bastards just keep moving!" Naruto responded he was having a hard time keeping his rage from boiling over. In fact, if it weren't for Sakura being in the vicinity, he would have let loose just to blow off steam. If Sasuke got injured in the process, oh well. But he wouldn't be able to live with himself if she got hurt. Sakura had been too much of a grounding source for his anger, keeping him from attacking Sasuke countless times before today.

"Shut up dobe!" Yelled Sasuke as he quickly formed a Chidori and turned around to strike at the creature he felt just barely brush him only to find his hand go straight through Sakura's chest.

"Sa..su..ke…?" Sakura stuttered in shock. The arm had gone straight through her heart. She fell to the ground, with a look of pure disbelief on her face, dead.

The feeling of rage from Naruto suddenly exploded, "what…have…you…DONE?"

* * *

Barrier Observation Room

"Sasuke, get out of there now!" Commanded Shikaku.

A few seconds later another one of the observing shinobi notified him that Sasuke had managed to avoid the enraged Naruto. Inoichi had left the room to see what had happened to his daughter. Shikaku would've almost done the same if Shikamaru had been in similar condition.

"Tell Naruto to release all restraint and wipe out the remaining enemy forces." Said a weak voice.

Shikaku turned to see it was Minato, looking very unfit to be conscious. "Hokage-sama, you need to rest!"

"That's an order Shikaku, set Naruto loose and tell my wife to be prepared to subdue him once the enemy has been wiped out." Minato quickly fell down and was carried off on a stretcher; a sedative was injected into him to prevent him waking up prematurely.

Shikaku gritted his teeth, setting Naruto loose was dangerous, even in a Konoha fortified for war, but an order was an order. "Naruto, you are authorized to release all restraints, you are to destroy all remaining enemy forces." He only heard a scream of rage and pain in response, but knew Naruto wouldn't hesitate to kill anything in his path.

"Kushina, Naruto has been set loose, prepare to subdue him once the enemy has been wiped out."

Kushina screamed a long line of expletives; Minato would not enjoy talking to his wife once he awoke. Shikaku simply hoped Minato knew what he was doing.

* * *

Naruto's Mindscape

Naruto found himself in his mindscape, standing before the bars of the cage that held the Kyuubi.

"What do you want _runt_?" The Kyuubi had no respect for it's container, freely taking his chakra at will, the fox could resist to some extent, but not completely. The boy's accident had merged their systems too much.

"I want…to kill them all." Naruto replied with pure hatred in his eyes.

"Hmm, so your little girlfriend got killed huh?" The Kyuubi smirked.

"Shut the fuck up fox, you enjoy death and I want to kill everything in my path. Give me all of your power and I will give you a show to remember." Naruto normally tried to give good reasons behind why he wanted the fox's power, this was the only time his reasons had been in any way similar to the fox's interests.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Roared the fox. "I told you that you would come to see it my way one day, I like the look in your eyes runt. Take my power and teach them what fear is!"

* * *

Barrier Observation Room

The barrier team watched as Naruto let out a thunderous roar that dwarfed the thunder above as the Kyuubi's power flowed through him. His cloak rapidly shot out all nine tails and the resulting wave of chakra incinerated everything within fifty meters. Naruto then began to move faster than the barrier team could observe, all they saw were buildings being flattened as everything in his path was reduced to ash.

"Sir, the enemy's numbers are rapidly decreasing. We can only detect a few hundred, no less than thirty signatures left!"

"Kushina, go!" Ordered a sweating Shikaku. The power of the Kyuubi was more terrifying than he remembered. True the enemy's numbers had been reduced to less than six thousand, but Naruto had destroyed them all in under a minute. Even Minato couldn't move that fast.

"Please Kushina, stop him before he tries to kill us all…" Shikaku prayed. There was little else any man could do upon witnessing such terrible power.

* * *

Second Line of Defense

Kushina jumped out of the gate closest to Naruto and launched her chakra chains at her rampaging son. The chains wrapped around him and he slammed into the ground. The last of the creatures Naruto had been about to destroy launched itself at her, but she quickly threw another chain to contain it, hopefully so it could be studied later on.

To her surprise, the creature instantly dissolved, its mask dropping to the ground as her chakra chain rapidly became purple. Before she could dispel the chain, the purple wave reached her and she felt an enormous amount of pain and dropped to her knees. The purple then continued forward to the chains containing Naruto and he also screamed in pain.

Miraculously, Naruto noticed his mother in pain and came to his senses, the Kyuubi's chakra instantly returning to the seal. He called for his mother as they both passed out.

* * *

Main Wall of Konoha

Kisame was roaring in laughter, he hadn't enjoyed anything so much in a long time. "Well that was fun, time to move on to Kusa. Welcome to the world of Pain Konoha, I'm sure you're going to love what's to come in the future."

He then jumped off the walls and returned to the rest of the horde that had come with him, not even a third of his army had been sacrificed in the attack and this had only been the first round. The battles to come in the future promised to be even more entertaining.

* * *

Barrier Observation Room

"Sir, enemy chakra signatures are absent. Combat has ceased. Civilian defenders report the enemy was wiped out after sustaining heavy casualties. It's over."

"Start cleanup and damage assessment, after that go get yourselves a drink, I think we all need one…or twenty," Shikaku replied. The battle was over and Konoha had won. Shikaku could only hope that the sacrifices were worth it. Orochimaru had been right, Konoha wasn't ready for the battle that just occurred, but Shikaku swore to himself that Konoha would be ready next time.

If only he had known what they would lose when the second wave came, then he might've been smarter and ran away from this new world of Pain.

* * *

Unknown Location

Madara Uchiha had seen everything through the eyes of Pain's incarnations. The attack on Konoha had gone exactly as planned. Sure, he had the numbers to wipe Konoha off the map and knew enough about its structure to have decimated it in a single blow, but he wanted Konoha to suffer above all others. They had betrayed, exiled, and humiliated him. He would make Konoha suffer to its last breath.

Until then however, he had more entertaining things to attend to, namely the destruction of the rest of the shinobi world, or what was left of it. Seeing the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki in action had even given him some interesting ideas that he would thoroughly enjoy applying in the future waves to come. Oh yes, Konoha would suffer, but only after he had torn them apart one by one. Only once they begged for death would he grant them release from Pain.

* * *

_ What happened to Naruto and Kushina, or Ino for that matter? What about these strange new skills Lee and Tenten seem to have gained? What is Madara planning? How will Konoha recover from this battle? They've already lost more than you know about. Keep reading to find out just how much._


End file.
